Colombo  - Tamil rebel airplanes dropped two bombs close to the air force headquarters in the heart of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo late Friday, injuring at least 38 persons, military officials and hospital authorities said.

The Sri Lankan air force said it shot down one of the rebel planes as it was trying to escape.

Air Force spokesman Janaka Nanayakkara said that the rebel plane was brought down in near Katunayaka, 30 kilometres north of the capital while returning towards the northern part of the country.

The plane was brought down close to another air base in Katunayaka which is located outside the international airport.

The spokesman said the plane's wreckage and the pilot's body had been found.

The bombs dropped in the heart of Colombo fell close to the Air Force headquarters and to a government building where the Inland Revenue (Tax) department is located.

The attack came as the government said that Tamil rebels were cornered in a 100-square-kilometre area in the north-eastern part of the country.

Initial reports said that rebel planes had taken off from an area still controlled by the rebels in Mullaitivu, 390 kilometres north- east of Colombo.

In March 2007 the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) succeeded in carrying out their first air attack on Sri Lankan army posiitons and on an air base close to the international airport in Colombo, killing three soldiers and injuring 17.

A month later, the LTTE carried out air attacks on an army base in the north of the country and on two oil depots in the capital. (dpa)