It was a cluster bomb, not Kfir

A cluster bomb dropped by an Air Force MiG-27 attack aircraft disintegrated upon impact on the ground in Tiger guerrilla dominated Wanni prompting them to claim they had shot down a bomber.

The claim was made by LTTE Military spokesman Irasiah Ilanthiriyan to the Tamilnet website. A report said: “A Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir bomber was damaged by Liberation Tigers anti-aircraft cannon fire over Vavuniya forward defence line around 3.30 pm on Thursday. LTTE Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthiriyan said that the bomber was damaged in the cannon fire by the Tigers and parts of the damaged aircraft fell inside the Tiger territory. The SLAF aircraft crash landed….”

Air Force sources said parts of the cluster bomb — a large canister containing several small bombs — had disintegrated. “The pieces were wrongly identified as parts of a Kfir. No Kfirs were airborne on Thursday. Sorties were carried out only by MiG-27s,” the source added.