Tamil rebels staged a dramatic suicide attack against Sri Lanka's tightly-guarded international airport and the adjoining air base, leaving 20 people dead and destroying 13 aircraft.
The President, Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga, ordered an inquiry into lapses which allowed the bombers to wreak havoc in the only international airport and base for fighter jets.
Within hours, the air force carried out retaliatory air strikes against suspected positions of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the island's north-east.
An estimated 15 to 20 LTTE guerrillas penetrated the air base in a commando-style raid by members of their elite squad known as "Black Tigers". The rebels went on to bomb aircraft at the Bandaranaike International Airport. Fires engulfed three Airbus aircraft which were reduced to a smouldering pile on the tarmac.
The Defence Ministry said at least 13 rebels were killed. Some of them blew themselves up when cornered by army commandos. Seven security personnel died at the airport and the air base.
Another 12, including four civilians, were wounded. No foreign tourists were hurt. However, an estimated 4,000 tourists were stranded with the closure of the airport, which is due to reopen tomorrow morning, officials said.
The national carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines, said flights to London, Dubai, Rome, Zurich, Paris, Frankfurt, Male and Tokyo would resume tomorrow. Both the airport and the base, which share a perimeter, were closed after the attack.
A Defence Ministry spokesman, Mr Sanath Karunaratne, said Israeli-built Kfir jets and Ukrainian MiG-27 aircraft carried out retaliatory strikes against LTTE targets in the north. There were no immediate details of the strikes and no statement from the LTTE on the airport operation.
The attack sent hundreds of workers and passengers from Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, India, Pakistan and the Maldives running for cover as gunfire and explosions ripped through aircraft.
The pre-dawn attack began when LTTE cadres dressed in military-type uniforms broke into the air base, 35 kilometres north of Colombo.
The Aviation Minister, Mr Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, estimated the loss to Sri Lankan Airlines at $350 million.
One Russian crew member of Sri Lankan Airlines was wounded and evacuated to hospital together with a state television journalist who was also wounded.
Security at the airport has been intense since a failed Tamil car-bomb attack in June 1995. In May 1986 Tamil rebels blew up an Air Lanka (now known as Sri Lankan) Tri-Star at the same airport, killing 16 people.
The attack came on the "Black July" anniversary of 1983 anti-Tamil riots in which up to 600 people were killed.