Sri Lankan military officials say Tamil rebels carried out an aerial bombing raid in the capital of Colombo late Friday.
斯里兰卡军方说，泰米尔猛虎反政府组织星期五晚些时候在首都科伦坡展开了空中轰炸。
A military spokesman said that shortly after the bombing, Sri Lanka's air force chased two rebel light aircraft and shot down one of them. Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the wreckage and the body of the pilot were recovered. One plane crashed into a tax building, killing at least two people and injuring 48 others.
一名军方发言人说，在轰炸后不久，斯里兰卡空军对两架反政府组织的轻型飞机展开追逐并击落了其中的一架。纳纳亚卡拉将军说，飞机的残骸和飞行员的尸体已经被寻获。
Much of the city was blacked out briefly just before the attack as anti-aircraft fire lit up the night sky over Colombo and searchlights scanned for signs of more rebel planes.
在地对空炮弹开始发射将天空映亮之前，科伦坡大部分地区停电，造成一片漆黑。探照灯在空中搜寻更多反政府飞机的踪影。
Nanayakkara said at least one suspected Tamil Tiger aircraft attacked Colombo. One explosion was heard near the city's port, and another near the Cinnamon Grand, a luxury hotel in the heart of the city.
纳纳亚卡拉说，至少有一架泰米尔猛虎游击队的飞机攻击了科伦坡。从市区附近的海港可以听到一次爆炸的声响，而从市中心一个豪华旅馆科伦坡大酒店可以听到另外一次爆炸声。
A third explosion was reported near the airport, about a 45-minute drive from the capital.
第三次爆炸据报发生在机场附近，距离市区大约45分钟的车程。
Nanayakkara said a government tax office had been hit by a bomb.
纳纳亚卡拉说，政府税收办公室被一枚炸弹击中。
Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, the executive director for the Center for Policy Alternatives, says the attacks were a bold move by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, most likely to show they are still a force to be reckoned with.
智库替代政策中心执行主任萨拉万纳穆图说，这些攻击是泰米尔猛虎组织一个大胆的行动，主要的作用大概是要显示它们还是一股需要被承认的力量。
"Well, the LTTE clearly wants to show that they may be being knocked up, but they haven't been knocked out completely as yet and that they are capable of doing these things to cast some doubt on the extent to which their military capability has been destroyed," he said.
“泰米尔猛虎游击队明显地是想要显示他们可能受到严重打击，不过他们还没有被完全消灭，他们还有能力展开这些攻击让人们对他们的武装力量被摧毁到何种程度产生一定猜测。”
The attack comes as Sri Lanka's military closes in on what are believed to be the last of the rebel strongholds. Sri Lanka's government has claimed that the rebels are no longer capable of launching air attacks.
这些攻击发生时，斯里兰卡军方正在逼近据信是这个反政府力量的最后要塞。斯里兰卡政府曾经宣称泰米尔猛虎已经无法再展开空中攻击了。
But security forces in the capital were on alert after a suspected Tiger Tamil aircraft was sighted northeast of capital hours before the attack.
不过，在空袭前几个小时有人看到被怀疑是泰米尔猛虎游击队的飞机出现在市区东北部，因此科伦坡的安全部队作出了相应的警戒。 |