Sri Lankan soldiers patrol the area damaged by the air attack

On the instruction of President Mahinda Rajapakse, about twenty five local and foreign journalists accompanied by cabinet ministers were taken to the Palali military base on Tuesday afternoon to get a first hand look at the results of the Tamil Tiger air attack.

The delegation included ministers Jeyaraj Fernandopulle and Rajitha Senaratne.

Listen to the interview

Speaking to the BBC after meeting the soldiers in Palaly, Minister Fernandopulle said the attack was successfully repelled.

six soldiers killed in the attack

“The enemy aircrafts had approached Palaly airport around 01.05 am. The military had spotted them and opened fire. The Tamil Tiger aeroplanes had retreated as a result of the retaliatory fire. They had dropped three bombs but two of them were off target. The other bomb was dropped on one of the bunkers from which the military was firing at them. Six soldiers who were in the bunker were killed as a direct result of this air attack by the Tamil Tigers”.

	building damaged in the attack

Minister Fernandopulle spoke to the BBC after brifing the president on what he saw in Palay. “The counter attack had saved an Airforce camp, Military camp and another security base. The Army is in high spirits after their success. They told me that they know what to do if the enemy came back”. Said the minister.

plucking cashew with catapult

When questioned about the inability to cause significant damage to the attacking aircrafts the minister said,

“It is difficult to shot down these attack aeroplanes. It is not as easy as plucking Cashew with a catapult! These are not hanging fruit, these are aircrafts travelling at 150 kilometres per hour. The Army had achieved a great success by not allowing them to attack the main installations. The air attack was repulsed only after three to four hundred soldiers fired at them”.

“Next time we will be even more ferocious. We have shown them this

When we attack from air, we can't expect them to do nothing. They will of course attack. They have to! We expect them to attack!!

time. Since we have attacked them so many times, the Tigers are bound to retaliate. When we attack from air, we can't expect them to do nothing. They will of course attack. They have to! We expect them to attack!!” the minister said.

no pre-conditions for talks

When asked about the future of the peace process, the minister said “We will not go for peace just because they had started air strikes. We are not scared of them. If we go for peace talks we will begin it with no pre conditions. We are not ready to talk about the opening the A9 or to begin talks based on the CFA. But, we will hit back every time they hit us!”

The minister accused the Tigers for attacking in the night. “They come stealthily at night. We hit them in daylight. They have to fight face to face without hiding in the dark”.