How the attack on Palaly was repulsed

Around 1.05 a.m. last Tuesday the Palaly base was rocked with the sound of artillery fire followed by retaliatory fire. Sgt. Mahindaratna and his colleagues on duty then heard the loud sound of an aircraft flying towards them. They realized that an LTTE aircraft had infiltrated the airspace and the military was retaliating.

General G.A. Chandrasiri, security forces commander Jaffna

“The sky was dark, but we still noticed a small aircraft flying in our direction. We noticed that due to fire from the main camp the flight was making a detour and coming in the direction of the Miliddy pier”, he explained.

“We had no alternative but to come out of our bunkers and fire in the direction of the aircraft which was been flying at around 800 ft above ground level. Most of us were armed with T-56 automatic rifles or similar weapons and we hoped that we could damage the flight”, Sgt. Mahindaratna said.

Examining a crater created by the bomb

“As we continued firing the plane dropped two bombs in an open space which resulted in the creation of two craters, but no one was injured. But, less than 10 metres away the aircraft dropped the third bomb. Six soldiers were killed and five others were injured as a result he said”. The third bomb was dropped on the main road opposite one of the large bunkers.

Sgt. Anura Gunasekara an eyewitness to the incident said that many of those killed were soldiers firing at the aircraft.

General G.A. Chandrasiri, security forces commander Jaffna, told a group of journalists flown in by the Defence Ministry to Palaly soon after the Tuesday’s attack that it was clear that they were crude bombs where a large number of steel balls were used. He said the main regret of soldiers on the ground was that they had not been not able to cause any damage to the aircraft which flew past them.

Building damaged during the air raid

Those killed in the attack were identified a Corporal P.M.B. Waranapura (Gampola), Corporal U.K.B. Hitihamu (Thambuthegama), Private H.W. Premaratna (Akuressa), Private W.D. Jayatissa (Haliela), Private N.N. Chinthaka (Pa-nadura), and Pri-vate J.S. Indika (Galle)