COLOMBO, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Airforce here Tuesday denied a claim by Tamil Tigers that they had carried out air raids on the main northern air base and strip.

    Irasiah Ilanthirayan, the spokesman for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), had told the media that two planes were used to bomb the air base at Palaly in the northern Jaffna peninsula at 1.20 a.m. local time Tuesday (1950 GMT).

    However Group Captain Ajantha Silva of the Airforce denied any air raids by the rebels but said that the LTTE had fired artilleryfrom Jaffna's Pooneryn area.

    He said there had been no aerial bombing by the Tigers.

    In another security incident, at least 3 civilians were killed and 37 others were injured when a claymore mine explosion hit a civilian bus on the Vavuniya-Mannar road in the north 11.30 p.m local time (1800 GMT) Monday. The LTTE rebels were blamed for the attack.