COLOMBO Tamil rebels staged a devastating suicide attack on Sri Lanka's only international airport and the neighboring military base Tuesday, killing at least 18 people and destroying 13 aircraft, officials said.

The airport was immediately shut down as hundreds of foreign tourists and workers scrambled to escape gunfire and explosions which ripped through parked aircraft and lit up the morning sky like fireworks, witnesses said.

The predawn attack began when members of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) penetrated air force defenses and broke into the Katunayake Air Base, 35 kilometers (21 miles) north of Colombo.

Defense Ministry spokesman Sanath Karunaratne said 13 rebels and five security personnel perished in the attack, which coincided with a key Tamil rebel anniversary.

The rebels destroyed eight military aircraft, including two Israeli-built KFIR jets, an Ukrainian MiG-27 supersonic fighter, a helicopter gunship, a transport aircraft and trainer aircraft.

After destroying the military air base, the rebels then shifted to the adjoining Bandaranaike International Airport where they attacked five empty Srilanka Airlines airbus aircraft parked on the apron.

An airbus A-340 and an A-330 aircraft were completely destroyed while two A-320 planes were badly damaged, the airline said in a statement here. A fifth plane, another A-330, had its undercarriage damaged.

Aviation Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle estimated the loss to Srilankan Airlines at 350 million dollars (402 million euros).

With the airport closed down hundreds of passengers were stranded in Dubai after a Srilankan Airlines overnight flight from London to Colombo was diverted there. Other flights were diverted to India or canceled.

But Minister Fernandopulle said he hoped to have the airport reopened and handling international flights by Tuesday evening.