Incident Summary:

03/10/2009: On Tuesday morning, a suicide bomber joined a crowd of civilians during a ceremony celebrating an Islamic holiday near the mosque outside the southern town of Matara, Sri Lanka, killing 10 people and injuring at least three. The explosion damaged many vehicles and nearby shops. No one has claimed responsibility, but its widely believed that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were responsible.

GTD ID:
200903100001

When:
2009-03-10

Country:
Sri Lanka

Region:
South Asia

Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:

Southern

City:
Matara

Location Details:
The attack took place in Matara.

Attack Information
Type of Attack (more) Bombing/Explosion
Successful Attack? (more) Yes
Target Information (more)
Target Type: Government (General)
Name of Entity
Specific Description Government officials
Nationality of Target Sri Lanka
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property
Name of Entity
Specific Description Civilians
Nationality of Target Sri Lanka
Additional Information
Hostages No
Ransom No
Property Damage Yes
Extent of Property Damage Unknown
Value of Property Damage Unknown
Weapon Information
Type Sub-type
Explosives Suicide (carried bodily by human being)
Weapon Details
A suicide bomb was used in the attack.
Additional Information
Suicide Attack?Yes
Part of Multiple Incident?No
Criterion 1 (more) Yes
Criterion 2 (more) Yes
Criterion 3 (more) Yes
Doubt Terrorism Proper (more) No
Additional Information The available sources listed the fatalities for this attack from 10 to15, and the injuries for this attack from three to 60, and because no majority figures were reported, the lowest proferred casualty figures were used in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database. The available sources listed the location of the explosion as Akuressa, Sri Lanka and Matara, Sri Lanka, so the majority location was used to preserve accuracy.
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name Claimed Responsibility
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) (suspected) No
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators 1
Number of Captured Perpetrators 0
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties 10 Fatalities / 3 Injured
Total Number of Fatalities 10
Number of U.S. Fatalities 0
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities 1
Total Number of Injured 3
Number of U.S. Injured 0
Number of Perpetrators Injured 0
Sources
Breaking News, "Ten Killed, Three Ministers Injured in Bomb Attack," LexisNexis Academic, Breaking News, March 10, 2009.
Yahoo News, "15 Dead, Minister Hurt in Sri Lanka Suicide Attack," http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090310/wl_sthasia_afp/srilankaunrestblasttoll;_ylt=Ah.uRAkl1zwDi85ccDCjDa8Bxg8F (March 10, 2009).