Colombo  - The death toll in a massacre of villagers by Tamil rebels in eastern Sri Lanka increased to 21 as the army and police stepped up security in the area, military officials said Sunday.

The military had reported late Saturday that eight civilians were killed in the attack, but a subsequent search overnight revealed that 21 persons including women and children were killed, they said.

Another 20 villagers were left wounded in the attack on Kirimetiya village in Inginiyagala district. Many of the villagers were belonged to the majority Sinhala community.

Colombo  - Tamil rebels stormed a village in eastern Sri Lanka on Saturday, killing at

Colombo, Feb 21 : The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), on Saturday claimed responsibility of Friday night''s aerial strikes on a main revenue department building near the Sri Lankan Air Force Headquarters in Colombo.

In a statement released on its website, the LTTE said the strikes were suicide attacks carried out by its ''Black Air Tiger'' squad.

They also released photographs of the two Black Air Tigers, Col. Roopan and Lt. Col. Siriththiran with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran before embarking on their mission.

The attack claimed the lives of two persons and injured 54.

Colombo  - Investigators on Saturday salvaged parts of two light aircraft commandeered by Tamil rebels and shot down by the Sri Lankan Air Force, military officials said.

Two people died and at least 53 were wounded in an air attack by Tamil rebels on Colombo late Friday. Military officials and hospital authorities said the planes dropped bombs close to the Air Force headquarters in the heart of the Sri Lankan capital.

Colombo  - Two persons were killed and at least 53 wounded in an air attack by two Tamil rebel planes on Colombo late Friday, with the Sri Lankan air force later saying both planes had been shot down or crashed after the attack.

Military officials and hospital authorities said the planes dropped two bombs close to the Air Force headquarters in the heart of the Sri Lankan capital.

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.