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Sri Lanka's rebels sent two planes on a surprise raid over the capital of Colombo on Friday night before antiaircraft fire shot them down, the military said. One plane crashed into a government office building in the heart of Colombo, killing the pilot and a bystander and wounding 40. The other crashed in a suburb, killing the pilot, the military said.
The brazen raid by the Tamil Tigers' tiny air wing was an embarrassment for the government, which said two weeks ago that it had seized all the rebels' airstrips, effectively grounding their small force of light aircraft.
However, a military spokesman said that the failure to bomb any strategic targets was a defeat for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The rebels had used a series of successful air attacks in the past to boost their morale and humiliate the government.
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In interviews with the Star Tribune, Ryan described life before and after the Russian invasion in the country, where she’s worked to secure the border and help refugees flee war-torn areas.
