Incident Summary:
1/2/2009: A suicide bomber from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) exploded near the front entrance of the Air Force Base in Colombo, Sri Lanka. A moving civilian bus in the area was damaged in the explosion. In addition to the bomber, at least two other people were killed and at least 31 were injured. The attack occurred shortly after government troops took control of Kilinochchi, the LTTE political capital.
Overview
GTD ID:
200901020031
When:
2009-01-02
Country:
Sri Lanka
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Western
City:
Colombo
Location Details:
Near the entrance of Colombo Air Force camp at Chittampalam Gardiner Mawatha in the Slave Island sector of Colombo
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Military |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Sri Lanka Air Force |
| Specific Description |
Members of the Sri Lankan Air Force base in Colombo |
| Nationality of Target |
Sri Lanka |
| Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Civilians |
| Specific Description |
Civilians in a bus near the Colombo Air Force Base |
| 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 |
Suicide (carried bodily by human being) |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| A suicide bomber exploded |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | Yes |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
| Additional Information |
It is unclear how many people were injured and whether the two that were killed were air force representatives or civilians. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
3 Fatalities / 31 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
3 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
1 |
| Total Number of Injured |
31 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| "Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1600 GMT, Jan. 2," Xinhua News Agency, January 2, 2009. |
| "Two killed, 31 wounded in Colombo bomb blast," Indo-Asian News Service, January 2, 2009. |
| "Two killed in LTTE suicide attack outside Lankan Air Force HQ," Press Trust of India Limited, January 2, 2009. |
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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