Rebels killed in attack on Colombo airport

All the Tamil Tiger rebels involved in the attack on Sri Lanka's main airport and adjoining air force base are thought to have been killed.

Thirteen military and passenger aircraft were hit, cutting the nation's only international air link.

After six hours of explosions, automatic weapons fire and pistol shots at Colombo airport, police say all the guerrillas are dead and three had blown themselves up.

"The attack was very well planned and now we have finished clearing the place," said Srinika Jayakody, a police officer at the airport.

The air force is clearing the runway and military chiefs are meeting inside the terminal, which had been enveloped in black smoke from a fuel tanker explosion.

Sri Lankan Airlines flights from London, Sydney, Berlin, Rome, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were diverted to neighbouring India and to the Emirates.

Nine guerrillas, three air force troopers and two soldiers were killed, while eight air force men and four soldiers were wounded, said military spokesman Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne.

A Russian flight engineer for Sri Lankan Airlines and a Sri Lankan journalist were wounded, he said.