On 20 February 2009 , two LTTE planes on a suicide mission carried out a kamikaze style air attack on the Sri Lankan capital Colombo , killing 2 and wounding 45 , but both planes were shot down by the Sri Lankan Air Force before they could damage the intended targets which were the Army Headquarters and the main Air Force base . By late March , the Tamil Tigers controlled only one square kilometre outside the no-fire zone , down from about 15,000 km2 a mere three years ago . Political pressure was placed on President Rajapaksa to find a political solution to the conflict and he called for a meeting with Tamil National Alliance , but they refused until the government resolved the humanitarian crisis faced by civilians trapped in the fighting
a suicide mission
2009 suicide air raid on Colombo
Sri Lankan Civil War