By P. Karunakharan
Colombo, April 27 (IANS) Two light aircraft of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) carried out a surprise air raid early Sunday on the government military positions in Weli-Oya, 280 km northeast of Colombo, military sources here said. “At 1.43 a.m. on Sunday, two LTTE planes dropped three bombs in the Weli-Oya forward defence line (FDL) areas. No injuries or damages were caused due to the LTTE air raid,” military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told IANS Sunday early morning.

“The LTTE planes have returned safely to their hideouts in the Wanni after dropping three bombs,” Nanayakkara said.

The LTTE is known to be in possession of unspecified number of Czech-built Zlin Z-143 light wing aircraft and have carried out five air raids against Sri Lankan military and economic targets until October last year.

This is the first LTTE air attack in six months, after their planes carried out an attack Oct 22 last year when a group of LTTE suicide guerrillas carried out a commando-style attack on a Sri Lankan air force base in Anuradhapura in the northcentral district.

After the air strike, the government said it has acquired anti-aircraft systems and guns and vowed to destroy LTTE’s air capabilities completely.

The LTTE air raid came within 24 hours of the Sri Lankan Air Force’s claim that its supersonic jets bombed “identified LTTE artillery gun positions located north of Weli-Oya Saturday evening” after fierce artillery duels in the area.

The government troops are locked in heavy fighting with the LTTE in the country’s north, where at least 150 combatants were killed and over 500 wounded in a bloody battle Wednesday.

The government troops said that they have captured the first line of defence of the rebels after Wednesday’s fierce fighting in the Jaffna peninsula, a claim refuted by the rebels.

Sri Lanka announced Friday that its troops had captured the Catholic Madhu church in the district of Mannar in the northwest from the Tamil Tigers, claiming that the LTTE cadres had beaten a retreat from the shrine area unable to withstand the army advance.

Independent verification of the battlefront casualties is not possible as journalists are barred from visiting the area.