There were huge traffic jams at every entry point to Colombo with motorists spending several hours before they could be allowed in. Doctors and other essential services were also stuck at roadblocks.

“This is part of the operations to prevent Tigers getting into the city,” a police official said.

Sixteen people were detained for questioning after the authorities searched nearly 10,000 vehicles and checked identity papers of 16,500 people, police said.

The extraordinary security measures came as Sri Lankans prepared to watch their team play Australia in the finals of cricket World Cup in Barbados later Saturday.

The moves followed heightened security in the capital after defense ministry reports that Tamil Tiger guerrillas had entered the air space of the island’s only international airport overnight on Thursday.

The sky over the Katunayake international airport near Colombo — where government war planes share a runway with civilian jets — was lit up with anti aircraft gunfire in response to the incursion by a “suspicious aircraft.”

Electricity to the capital was switched off so potential targets would not be illuminated.

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