The Tamil Tigers’ homegrown air wing of light aircraft poses a threat to India’s nuclear installations, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona told reporters here today.

“There is an air threat which has a range of 200-300 nautical miles, and this range brings within it not only cities within Sri Lanka, shipping in the Indian Ocean, but also the nuclear installations of India,” Kohona said.

“And we are talking about a terrorist organisation that did not hesitate to murder the prime minister of our neighbour,” he added, referring to the 1991 assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by a suspected Tiger suicide bomber. “So the possibility is always there.”

There was no immediate comment from the LTTE and it was not clear why they would attack south India.

The Sri Lankan government has been keen for India to become more involved in trying to end the island’s two-decade civil war and has played up a regional threat.

Analysts say the Tigers’ air wing, a tiny force of an estimated 2-5 small propeller planes adapted to carry bombs, should not be taken lightly and experts are dumbfounded at how the rebels have managed to fly away safely after each sortie. The rebels have vowed more air raids will follow.