Bomb warning ahead of Sri Lanka Independence parade

By Simon Gardner

COLOMBO (Reuters) - A caller claiming to be from a group Sri Lanka's military says is a wing of the Tamil Tigers on Monday warned of bomb attacks on Independence Day celebrations due to take place in the capital Colombo within hours.

Sri Lanka's military said the group, Ellalan Forces, was a codename sometimes used by Tamil Tiger rebels behind attacks in the capital like one on Sunday when 11 people were killed in a railway station bombing.

The caller was unknown to Reuters and hung up when asked if he was linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The Tigers were not immediately reachable for comment.

Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the armed forces were expecting the rebels to try and mount attacks.

"There have been recoveries of suicide jackets and an LTTE cadre (fighter) last week. They are trying to disrupt the independence celebrations," he said. "We are expecting some kind of sabotage activity from the Tigers.

"Ellalan forces ... are those operating in Colombo," he added. "It sounds genuine. It is the Tigers."

A man claiming to be from the group called Reuters in January 1996 one minute before suspected Tigers rammed a truck packed with explosives into the Central Bank in Colombo, killing up to 100 people and wounding 1,400.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is due to oversee an exhibition of military might in the capital on Monday morning, when tanks and thousands of troops will parade in the city, fighter jets will fly overhead and attack boats sail by to mark the 60th anniversary of independence from colonial ruler Britain.

The military is already on high alert after a series of bombings blamed on the Tigers in recent weeks, including Sunday's suicide bombing at the island's main train station in the capital which killed 11 and wounded 92.

"Please, be careful. There are going to be bombs in Colombo in some places," the anonymous caller told Reuters, saying he represented 'Ellalan Forces' -- a little known group the military identified as a codename for Tiger fighters operating in the capital.

"In some places we have fixed bombs to target Independence Day celebrations."

Source: Reuters