Sri Lankan rebels hit targets near capital
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA — Tamil Tiger rebels bombed a fuel refinery and gasoline storage facility Sunday near the Sri Lankan capital, and authorities cut power to the city, officials said. Hours later, the military pounded rebel positions in the north.
The predawn rebel attack was the third aerial assault by the Tamil Tigers. Last month, the separatist group carried out its first airstrike, bombing an air force base near Colombo and killing at least three airmen.
On Tuesday, the group bombed military positions in the northern Jaffna peninsula, killing six soldiers.
On Sunday, Tiger aircraft dropped four bombs that started a fire in an oil facility six miles north of Colombo, according to the Defense Ministry.
More than 69,000 people have been killed since the separatist conflict flared in 1983.
Rebels are fighting for an independent homeland for the country’s 3.2 million ethnic Tamils.
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