The rebel attack was the third assault by Tamil Tiger planes since they carried out their first-ever air strike last month when they bombed an air force base near Colombo, killing at least three airmen.

On Sunday, Tiger aircraft dropped four bombs near Colombo, said an official at the defence ministry's media centre, speaking on condition of anonymity due to policy.

A soldier who witnessed the rebel attack said he saw a low-flying plane drop two bombs on a gas storage facility in Kerawalapitiya, about 7 miles north of Colombo. The bombs started a fire, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the media.

The extent of damage was not immediately known.

As a security measure, officials knocked out power to the entire capital Sunday, as well as the country's only international airport and an adjoining air force base, as the rebel aircraft approached.

The rebels have launched all three air strikes at night, and fly without lights to avoid detection. Many people were awake watching Sri Lanka's cricket team play Australia in the World Cup final on television when the power was shut off.

All passengers aboard planes were called back into the terminals and air traffic was suspended for about an hour, an employee of the international airport said, speaking on condition on anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Emirates Airlines and Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific on Sunday suspended flights to Sri Lanka following a rebel air strike around the troubled island's capital.

"For Emirates, the safety of its passengers is of paramount importance," a spokesman for the Dubai-based carrier said, adding that the situation would be reviewed within a day.

Emirates operated scheduled flights from Dubai to the Maldives, Singapore and Indonesia through the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.

However, the airline plans to operate a relief flight for any stranded passengers.

Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific suspended flights to Sri Lanka's international airport indefinitely, it said in a statement Sunday.

Rasiah Ilanthirayan, a rebel spokesman, said Tamil Tiger aircraft bombed two facilities that supply fuel to the Sri Lankan air force.

"The two squadrons returned safely after the mission and the pilots have confirmed that they have hit the targets," he said by phone from the Tamil Tiger stronghold of Kilinochchi in northern Sri Lanka.

The latest attack comes after the rebels used their new air wing last Tuesday to bomb military positions in the northern Jaffna peninsula, killing six soldiers. The planes did not reach their intended target a military base that serves as the operational headquarters in the fight against the guerrillas.

Sri Lanka's separatist conflict flared in 1983 when separatist rebels started fighting for an independent homeland for the country's 3.1 million ethnic minority Tamils, who complain of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.

More than 69,000 people have been killed in the conflict.