Incident Summary:
02/08/2000: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are responsible for bombing two buses in Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing 3 people and injuring an additional 42 victims. One bus was a Negombo-bound 34-seater luxury bus, where the blast occurred barely an hour after it had hit the road. This incident was one of eight explosions of transportation targets within 30 days, conducted by LTTE who had been fighting for a separate Tamil state. Sri Lanka's junior defense minister, Anuruddha Ratwatte, suspected that the LTTE was stepping up attacks in an effort to incite panic among civilians and commuters in particular. Intelligence officials suspected that "the militants' urgency to spread panic" stemmed from a variety of new legislation including the "new regulatory pass system which the government [was] all set to enforce to check movement from the eastern provinces of Batticaloa and Trincomalee." Under this legislation, every person moving from the east would have to fill an approved form before being given permission to travel to central and southern provinces. The extent of property damage in this incident is unknown.
Overview
GTD ID:
200002120001
When:
2000-02-08
Country:
Sri Lanka
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Western
City:
Colombo
Location Details:
on one Negombo-bound bus in Colombo and a second bus in Colombo (location unknown)
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Sri Lankan civilians |
| Specific Description |
Sri Lankan civilians |
| Nationality of Target |
Sri Lanka |
| Target Type: Transportation |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Sri Lankan transportation system |
| Specific Description |
buses in Colombo |
| Nationality of Target |
Sri Lanka |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
No |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
Yes |
| Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
| Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Explosives |
Unknown Explosive Type |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| bus bombs |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | No |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
3 Fatalities / 42 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
3 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
| Total Number of Injured |
42 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| "Sri Lanka Appoints Committee to Study Bus Bombs," Xinhua General News Service, February 11, 2000. |
| Charu Lata Joshi, "Bus bombs - latest strategy of the LTTE," The Times of India, February 10, 2000. |
| "Three Killed in Bus Blasts," World Markets Research Centre, February 09, 2000. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties
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