List of (non-state) terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka

The following are notable terrorist incidents (non-state) that have happened in Sri Lanka. The list is in chronological order and it does not include attacks to military bases or military personnel, who were engaged in duty during the Sri Lankan civil war or JVP insurrections. A number of terrorists attacks have occurred in Sri Lanka, specially during the periods of civil war (1983-2009) and the second JVP insurrection (1987 -1989). Sri Lanka is one of the nations which has experienced some of the worst terrorist attacks that have occurred worldwide, with 100 or more fatalities over the last 100 years.[1][2]

Incidents by decade

1980s

Attack Date Location Deaths Perpetrators Notes
Kent and Dollar Farm massacres 1984-11-30 Vavuniya District, Northern Province 62 LTTE LTTE cadres shot dead 62 Sinhalese villagers and injured several others.[3]
Yal Devi attack 1985-01-19 Murikandy, Mullaitivu District, Northern Province 34 LTTE / TELO[lower-alpha 1] LTTE[lower-alpha 1] bombed the northern railway line at Murikandy, killing 34 people and completely destroying the tracks.[8]
Sri Maha Bodhi Attack 1985-05-14 Anuradhapura, North Central Province 146 LTTE LTTE cadres invaded Anuradhapura town and opened fire indiscriminately with automatic weapons killing and wounding many civilians. Then they drove to the sacred Buddhist shrine Sri Maha Bodhi and gunned down nuns, monks and civilians who were worshiping there.[9][10][11]
Air Lanka Flight 512 1986-05-03 Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake 21 LTTEAir Lanka Flight 512 which had arrived at Bandaranaike International Airport from London Gatwick Airport was about to fly on to the Maldives Islands. A bomb which was planted by Tamil Tigers exploded and ripped the aircraft in two. It carried mainly European and Japanese tourists.[12][13]
Aluth Oya massacre 1987-04-17 Alutoya, North Central, Sri Lanka 127LTTE127 Sinhalese men women and children who were separated from the other passengers from three buses were gunned down by LTTE.[14]
Colombo Bus Station bombing 1987-04-21 Central Bus Stand, Pettah 113 LTTELTTE exploded a bomb at the central bus terminal of Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. The bombing killed 113 civilians.[15]
Aranthalawa Massacre 1987-06-02 Aranthalawa, Ampara District 35 LTTE LTTE cadres mutilated and killed 33 young Buddhist monks and their mentor, Ven. Hegoda Sri Indrasara Thera, who was the chief priest of Vidyananda Pirivena, Ampara.[16]
1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament 1987-08-17 Parliament of Sri Lanka, Sri Jayawardenepura 02 JVP A JVP assailant hurled 2 grenades into a room where government MPs were meeting, with the then Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayawardene and Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa. A Member of Parliament and a Ministry secretary were killed by the explosions.[17]
Kathiresan Hindu temple attack 1988-02-16 Kathiresan Hindu temple, Bambalapitiya, Colombo 10 JVP At least 10 people died and 26 others were injured when two bombs blasted in a crowded Hindu temple during a religious festival.[18]
Magazine Prison attack
(Welikada jail break) 		1988-12-12 Magazine Prison, Welikada, Colombo unknown JVP Armed cadres of JVP attacked the Magazine Prison, a maximum security prison and also the largest prison in Sri Lanka. 170 suspected JVP cadres managed to escape from the prison by this attack.[19][20]
1989 Temple of the Tooth attack 1989-02-08 Temple of the Tooth, in Kandy, Sri Lanka 05 JVP Armed cadres of JVP attacked, Sri Dalada Maligawa, one of the holiest Buddhist shrines in Sri Lanka, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[21]
Bomb attack to Kataragama Esala Procession 1989-07 Kataragama, Sri Lanka 15 JVP Cadres of JVP attacked the annual Esala Procession of Kataragama temple.[22] This grenade attack killed about 15 and many more were wounded.[23]

1990s

Attack Date Location Deaths Perpetrators Notes
Kattankudy mosque massacre 1990-08-03 Kattankudy 147 LTTELTTE cadres killed of over 147 Muslim men and boys in a mosque in Kattankudy.[11][24] Around 30 Tamil tigerss raided four mosques in the town of Kattankudi, where over 300 people were prostrating in Isha prayers.
Palliyagodella massacre 1992-10-15 Palliyagodella in Polonnaruwa District, North Central Province172 LTTE A large group of Tamil Tigers of about 200-300 members, attacked Muslim villages and killed 172 civilians (171 of them Muslims), while 83 others were injured.[25][26]
Armour street bombing / Assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa 1993-05-01 Armour Street, Colombo 11 LTTELTTE suicide bomber killed Sri Lankan president while he was participating in a May Day rally.[27][28]
Thotalanga Bombing / Assassination of Gamini Dissanayake 1994-10-24 Thotalanga, Colombo 52 LTTE Presidential candidate Gamini Disanayake was killed when a female LTTE member blew herself up with a powerful bomb. 50 others including several politicians were killed by the attack.[29][30]
Kallarawa massacre 1995-05-25 Kallarawa, Trincomalee District 42LTTELTTE cadres massacred 42 men, women and children in Kallarawa, a small fishing village located 35 km away from Trincomalee town. Victims were mainly Sinhalese and belonged to a fishing community.[31][32]
Attack to the oil storage complexes at Kolonnawa and Orugodawatta 1995-10-20 Kolonnawa, Colombo 26 LTTE Suicide cadres of the LTTE attacked the oil storage complexes at Kolonnawa and Orugodawatta. They managed to blew themselves up destroying the tanks. 22 security personnel died by this attack and petroleum oil worth over US $10 million were destroyed.[33]
Colombo Central Bank bombing 1996-01-31 Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Colombo 91 LTTE A truck containing about 440 pounds of high explosives crashed through the main gate of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The blast killed at least 91 people and injured 1,400 others.[34][35]
1996 Dehiwala train bombing 1996-07-24 Dehiwala, Colombo 64 LTTE A train bombing resulted in 64 civilian deaths and wounding 400 others. The attack was carried out by LTTE operatives who placed suitcase bombs in four carriages on a commuter train. It was the first time to use the technique of simultaneously exploding multiple bombs in trains.[36][37]
1997 Colombo World Trade Centre bombing 1997-10-15 Colombo World Trade Centre 15-17LTTEThe LTTE drove a container truck laden with explosives into the car park of Galadari Hotel in Colombo. Then they attacked the Colombo World Trade Centre, twin 39-story towers, situated in close proximity to the hotel. The attack killed 15 people and 105 were wounded including many British tourists.[38][39]
1998 Temple of the Tooth attack 1998-01-25 Kandy, Sri Lanka 17 LTTE the LTTE exploded a massive truck bomb inside the Temple of the Tooth premises, which was to be the centre the independence day celebrations.[40]
Gonagala massacre1999-09-18 Kalpengala and Bedirekka, in Gonagala Ampara District 58-61 LTTE Tamil Tigers killed 61 Sinhalese people, when they attacked three villages in Gonagala Ampara District. Among the dead were 17 women and seven children. Swords and machetes were used to chop and hack the victims to death, who were dragged from sleep.[25][41][42]
Lionair Flight 602 1999-09-29 Off the cost of Mannar District, North West 55 LTTEA passenger aircraft Lionair Flight 602 disappeared from radar screens, after departing Kankesanturai Airport in Jaffna. Initial reports indicated that the plane had been shot down by LTTE cadres using MANPADS. All 7 crew members and 48 passengers were killed.[43][44]
Colombo Town Hall boming
(Assassination attempt on Chandrika Kumaratunga		1999-12-18 Colombo Town Hall 36 LTTE Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber during an election rally at the Colombo Town Hall. The president lost one of her eyes by this attack, while 36 others died and many others were injured.[45][46]

2000s

Attack Date Location Deaths Perpetrators Notes
Bandaranaike Airport attack 2001-07-24 Katunayake, Western Province 21 LTTE LTTE attacked the, Bandaranaike International Airport and destroyed three passenger Air Busses and 8 military air crafts. The Airport was closed for 14 hours during and after the attack. The cost of replacing the civilian aircraft was estimated at $350 million USD.[47][48][49]
Kebithigollewa Bus bombing 2006-06-15 Kebithigollewa, Anuradhapura District 64 LTTE Sixty four civilians were killed when a civilian bus was attacked by LTTE using a claymore bomb. Among the dead were a Buddhist monk, several pregnant women and 15 schoolchildren.[50][51]
Attack on Pakistani ambassador 2006-08-14 Kollupitiya, Colombo07 LTTEA convoy carrying the Pakistani High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Bashir Wali Mohamed, was attacked by a claymore mine concealed within an auto rickshaw. The High Commissioner escaped unhurt, but seven people were killed and a further seventeen injured in the blast.[52]
Digampathana bus bombing 2006-10-06 Digampathaha, Matale District103 LTTEThe 2006 Digampathana truck bombing, also known as Habarana massacre, was a suicide truck bombing carried out by the LTTE against a convoy of 15 military buses at Digampathana in Sri Lanka. The buses were carrying more than 200 sailors from Trincomalee who were going on leave. The bombing killed 103 and wounded more than 150 people.[53]
Nugegoda shopping mall bombing 2007-11-28 Nugegoda 17 LTTEAt least 17 people were killed and another 33 seriously injured when a LTTE parcel bomb went off in a leading clothes shop in Nugegoda town.[54][55]
Okkampitiya Bus bombing 2008-01-16 Okkampitiya, Moneragala 28 LTTE A LTTE bomb attack to a bus in Okkampitiya killed 28 people including school children and wounded 64 others.[56]
Dambulla Bus bombing 2008-02-02 Dambulla 18 LTTE A pilgrimage ended in blood-shed, after LTTE members exploded a private bus killing 18 devotees including women and children, in Dambulla Town.[57]
2008 Fort Railway Station bombing 2008-02-03 Fort Railway Station, Colombo 12 LTTE A suicide bombing of a commuter train while it was stopped at the Fort Railway Station, Colombo, killed 11 and injured 92.[58][59] Killed in the attack were eight school children of D. S. Senanayake College's baseball team and their coach.
Piliyandala bus bombing 2008-04-26 Piliyandala, Colombo 26 LTTEA bombing by Tamil Tigers of a commuter bus carried out in Piliyandala, a suburb of Colombo. The bombing killed 26 and injured at least 64.[60]
2008 Dehiwala train bombing 2008-05-26 Dehiwala, Colombo 08 LTTE Another bombing of a commuter train, running from Colombo to Panadura on May 26, 2008 in Dehiwala, Sri Lanka, killed 08 people and injured around 80.[61][62]
Akuressa suicide bombing 2009-03-10 Akuressa, Matara District 14 LTTEA LTTE suicide bomber caused an explosion at an Islamic religious parade near Godapitiya Jumma mosque in Akuressa, Southern Sri Lanka, killing 14 and injuring 35 civilians. Several government ministers were among the injured while few local politicians died from the attack.[63][64]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Other sources blame the Yarl Devi attack on TELO.[4][5][6][7]

References

  1. ↑ Map of worst terrorist attacks worldwide: 100 or more fatalities, Robert Johnston
  2. ↑ Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World, Bruce Schneier, pg 240
  3. ↑ LTTE genocide at Kent and Dollar Farms, Daily News
  4. ↑ Yatawara, Dhaneshi (8 March 2009). "A9 highway gears for non-stop run". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka).
  5. ↑ Abeynayake, Stanley E. (7 December 2014). "Northern Railway service, some historical aspects". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka).
  6. ↑ Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 32: Limbo between war and peace". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story.
  7. ↑ Sri Kantha, Sachi. "Civil War Leader for Tamils". The Pirabhakaran Phenomenon.
  8. ↑ Yal Devi readies for return to Jaffna, Ceylon Today
  9. ↑ The LTTE attack on Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi marks 28 years, Hiru News
  10. ↑ Parithy, one of Sri Maha Bodhi attackers, Sunday Observer
  11. 1 2 Major LTTE massacres and destruction, Daily News
  12. ↑ "1986: Bomb kills 21 in Sri Lanka". BBC. 3 May 1986. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  13. ↑ "Commercial Airline Bombing History". aerospaceweb.org. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  14. ↑ Lest we forget the LTTE, The Island, K. Godage
  15. ↑ LTTE Terrorist Attacks Selected Chronology (since 1987), Victor Gunasekara
  16. ↑ Monument of Aranthalawa Massacre, Amazing Lanka
  17. ↑ Bomb Attack on Parliament, Daily News
  18. ↑ Bomb Attack on Hindu Temple, Tamil Times, February 1988
  19. ↑ JVP fear psychosis - Part V:Magazine Prison attack, Daily News, Geoff Wijesinghe
  20. ↑ Unmasking the real face of the JVP, Frederica Jansz, The Sunday Leader
  21. ↑ JVP can’t deny they attacked the Dalada Maligawa using firearms — Diyawadana Nilame, The Island
  22. ↑ Murugan-Shaitan Showdown, Patrick Harrigan interviews Swami Siva-Kalki, The Sunday Times, August 19, 1990
  23. ↑ Collected Bodhi Leaves, page 183
  24. ↑ Kattankudy Muslims commemorate Tiger massacre in mosques, Sunday Observer
  25. 1 2 Revisiting Tamil Tiger massacres in Sri Lanka, Sunday Observer
  26. ↑ List of Muslims massacred by Tiger Terrorists from March 6, 1988 to October 15, 1992, Daily News
  27. ↑ Suicide Bomber Kills President of Sri Lanka
  28. ↑ Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (aka Tamil Tigers) (Sri Lanka, separatists), Council on Foreign Relations
  29. ↑ Latest Killing of a Sri Lanka Politician Fits a Familiar Pattern, The New York Times
  30. ↑ Gamini Dissanayake, the last of men, Ceylon Today
  31. ↑ Trends in Outside Support for Insurgent Movements, Daniel Byman, Peter Chalk, Bruce Hoffman, William Rosenau, David Brannan, Pg 47, National Security Research Division (RAND)
  32. ↑ Deliberate and arbitrary killings / Fear of further killings, Amnesty International
  33. ↑ The LTTE and suicide terrorism, Rohan Gunaratne, Frontline, Volume 17 - Issue 03, Feb. 2000
  34. ↑ Timeline of the Tamil conflict, BBC NEWS
  35. ↑ Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues, Gus Martin, SAGE, 2010
  36. ↑ "Tamil Arrested in Sri Lanka Train Bombing". The New York Times. 1996-09-04.
  37. ↑ "The Role of the International Community-Sri Lanka". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  38. ↑ British tourists wounded in Tamil Tiger bomb blast, The Independent UK
  39. ↑ 17 Die, 100 Wounded by Huge Bomb and Gunfire in Sri Lanka, The New York Times
  40. ↑ Commonwealth Secretariat (2006). The Commonwealth Yearbook. Great Britain: Nexus Strategic Partnerships Ltd. p. 369. ISBN 978-095-4962-94-4.
  41. ↑ Tigers violate UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Government of Sri Lanka
  42. ↑ Genocide and Mass Violence: Memory, Symptom, and Recovery, Devon E. Hinton, Alexander L. Hinton, pg 360
  43. ↑ Criminal Occurrence description, Aviation Safety Network
  44. ↑ MH17 is not alone. Commercial flights that got shot down, Travel Tom-Travel advice, news and more
  45. ↑ Sri Lankan President Kumaratunga narrowly escapes assassination by suicide bomber, WSWS.org
  46. ↑ President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, GlobalSecurity.org
  47. ↑ 'Operation Scapegoat' on Katunayake attack, The Sunday Leader, Frederica Jansz]
  48. ↑ Building an international airport, Sunday Times
  49. ↑ Rebel Attack on Airport Shocks Leaders of Sri Lanka, New York Times
  50. ↑ Kebithigollewa Massacre, Sangam.org
  51. ↑ 64 civilians killed in LTTE claymore attack, Daily News
  52. ↑ South Africa ready to pull out of tri-series, ESPN Cricinfo
  53. ↑ 103 killed in Sri Lankan bomb attack, smh.com.au
  54. ↑ Civilians targeted in Nugegoda bomb blast, Daily Mirror
  55. ↑ Scores killed in Nugegoda blast, BBC
  56. ↑ Terror in Uva Province: 28 Killed 65 Wounded , Tops.lk
  57. ↑ LTTE kills 18 pilgrims in Dambulla bus explosion, Sunday Observer, 3 February 2008
  58. ↑ Sri Lanka railway station suicide blast kills 11, Reuters.com
  59. ↑ Suicide Bomb Hits Sri Lankan Rail Station, CBS News
  60. ↑ Jayasinghe, Amal (April 26, 2008). "Sri Lanka fears more bombings as bus toll hits 26". France 24. Archived from the original on 2008-05-21. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  61. ↑ "Sri Lanka commuters hurt by bomb". BBC News. 4 June 2008.
  62. ↑ Bomb blast in Sri Lanka targets rail commuters
  63. ↑ Sri Lanka suicide bombing targets government ministers, The Guardian
  64. ↑ Sri Lankan ministers targeted by Tamil Tiger suicide bomber, The Telegraph
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