(Updates with military statement) By Ranga Sirilal and John Ruwitch COLOMBO, April 24 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels said on Tuesday two of their airplanes bombed the main government air base in the north, while the military said it fended off the attack with anti-aircraft fire but lost six soldiers. Ground troops fired at the rebel aircraft, which dropped two bombs on military bunkers, though not on the base itself, the military said. "Six soldiers died, not only due to this, there was some artillery firing also," military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said. The Tamil Tigers, who have been fighting for decades to establish independence in the north and east of the Indian Ocean island, said the two planes dropped a total of eight bombs on the military complex after midnight. "Tamil Tigers air wing attacked Palaly airstrip and military storage," a rebel military spokesman said by telephone. "Our aircraft returned safely. "One of the pilots I have spoken to said they have seen fire on the base," he added. The pro-Tiger Web site Tamilnet reported the attack inflicted "heavy damage" on a military garrison. But the military denied the Tigers' story. "Nothing like that happened," air force spokesman Group Captain Ajantha de Silva said. A spokesman for the Media Centre for National Security said: "Our boys saw a light aircraft coming from Point Pedro towards Palaly and they (the army) attacked using five-zero (anti-aircraft) guns, which forced (the Tiger plane) to turn back." One resident of the garrison town of Jaffna, less than 15 km (9 miles) south of Palaly, said by telephone she heard what sounded like shelling, then the power went out, and then she heard the distant sound of an airplane. Point Pedro is east of Palaly. The Palaly airstrip is the only place the government can land supplies in the Jaffna peninsula, which is separated from the rest of the country by a swathe of rebel-held territory. BUS ATTACK Nearly a month ago, Tamil Tiger light aircraft flew undetected from the north to the capital on the southwestern coast and bombed the barracks of an air base that shares runways with the Colombo airport. The planes returned safely. That attack prompted a brief shutdown of the international airport, and Cathay Pacific suspended flights to and from Sri Lanka for almost a month. The Tamil Tigers warned of future attacks from an air force that analysts say consists of just two to five light propeller planes built by pieces smuggled in over time but constitutes a threat the military would be ill-advised to underestimate. Since 1983 the war in Sri Lanka has killed some 68,000 people, including more than 4,000 in the past 16 months. The intensified violence has left a 2002 ceasefire in tatters. Elsewhere in the embattled north, a claymore mine tore into a civilian bus on Monday, killing three and injuring about 37, the military said. Both sides blamed each other for the attack. Hopes for peace faded further on Monday when a Norwegian envoy trying to kick-start talks cancelled a trip to meet rebels at the government's suggestion due to unspecified security risks. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government has vowed to destroy the Tigers, while the rebels have warned of a "bloodbath" if the international community fails to stop daily military attacks. Analysts say neither side has a clear advantage. Sri Lanka is expected to come to a stand still later on Tuesday when the country turns its attention to Jamaica and the start of a World Cup semi-finals match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
