Sri Lanka stepped up air defences yesterday, a day after it said it averted a major disaster in Colombo by knocking out two Tamil Tiger aircraft packed with explosives before they reached their targets.

Police and military officials said authorities expected the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants to try more suicide attacks as they steadily lose territory to advancing government forces.

"They could try more desperate attacks like this," a military official here said.

"But we have placed the air defence systems on full alert and we can meet the threat."

The Tigers are believed to have had five Czech-built Zlin-143 aircraft smuggled into the island in pieces and re-assembled. It is not known how many they have left after the government launched its all-out offensive.

Military officials said another 17 Tiger rebels were killed in ground battles in the island's north on Friday, before the group launched a kamikaze-style air raid over the capital.

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