Incident Summary:
06/05/2006: Suspected members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attempted to blow up a Navy convoy early in the morning, but instead hit a Ceylon Transport Bus (CTB) outside the Welisara Bus Depot in Welisara, Sri Lanka. The bus driver and conductor were injured in the explosion, and serious damage was done to the bus.
Overview
GTD ID:
200606050005
When:
2006-06-05
Country:
Sri Lanka
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Western
City:
Welisara
Location Details:
A bus outside the Welisara Bus Depot, 200 meters away from the Welisara Navy camp on the outskirts of Colombo, heading for the Bandaranaike International Airport
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Military |
Name of Entity |
Sri Lankan Navy |
Specific Description |
Navy shuttle bus carrying personnel to Ratmalana |
Nationality of Target |
Sri Lanka |
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Sri Lankan civilians |
Specific Description |
Bus driver and conductor |
Nationality of Target |
Sri Lanka |
Target Type: Transportation |
Name of Entity |
Sri Lankan Bus |
Specific Description |
Ceylon Transport Bus |
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 |
Remote Trigger |
Weapon Details |
Two claymore mines strapped together, detonated by remote control |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The main target of the attack was the Navy convoy, which normally carries between 15 to 20 Navy personnel but on this day was supposed to carry 40 sailors to their duty stations. The driver and conductor of the state-run bus hit suffered minor injuries and were treated at the Ragama hospital. Sources note that the design of the bomb, two anti-personnel (claymore) mines strapped together and detonated by a remote control, was a design on the LTTE could successfully make and detonate. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
1 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 2 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
2 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
"LTTE claymore misses Navy bus Target," Daily News, June 07, 2006. |
"Suspected Sri Lanka rebels mount attack in Colombo-Navy," Dow Jones International News, June 05, 2006. |
Dilip Ganguly, "Suspected Tamil rebels detonate mines near Sri Lanka capital, 4 killed elsewhere," Associated Press, June 06, 2006. |
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