SRI LANKA: LULL IN JAFFNA FIGHTING AS POLICE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001379 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/17/2016 TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM PREF MOPS CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: LULL IN JAFFNA FIGHTING AS POLICE DISCOVER CLAYMORE BOMB IN COLOMBO REF: COLOMBO 1324 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: CDA James R. Moore for reasons 1.4(b,d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Police discovered and diffused a claymore bomb in a crowded Colombo marketplace on August 22. While fighting between Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) forces and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres appeared to enter a lull on the Jaffna Peninsula on August 22-23, the Tigers fired mortars on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps in the east on August 23. In an August 22 press release, the Norwegian embassy announced that the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) would temporarily move its Jaffna monitors back to Colombo citing security concerns. Meanwhile, suspected Tiger cadres killed five alleged Tamil informants in separate incidents in Jaffna and Trincomalee on August 22. End Summary. Bike Bomb -------------- ¶2. (C) On the morning of August 22, police discovered a 15-kilogram claymore bomb affixed to a bicycle in a crowded commercial district of Colombo. According to August 23 press reports, the remote-control bomb was hidden in a box of vegetables and aimed toward the six-lane Borella Road. Colombo Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Pujitha Jayasundera told the press that police have arrested four suspects, as well as a fifth suspected-LTTE cadre believed to have smuggled the explosives into Colombo. The Security Task Force (STF) bomb disposal unit diffused the claymore on site. Engagement in East - Tigers Mar Informants -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Following more than ten days of intense military engagement between Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the northern Jaffna district which began August 11, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) announced through a Norwegian embassy press release on August 22 that it would temporarily remove its Jaffna-based monitors to Colombo citing security concerns. Last week the SLMM relocated its staff in eastern Trincomalee and Batticaloa offices to Habarana and Ampara respectively. ¶4. (C) On August 22-23, fighting along the Forward Defense Line (FDL) and Kayts Island off the west coast of the Jaffna peninsula appeared to enter a lull, while the LTTE fired mortars on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps near the eastern towns of Trincomalee and Batticaloa. According to a GSL defense website, the SLA suffered no casualties. Suspected-LTTE cadres killed five alleged army informants in Trincomalee and Batticaloa in separate attacks August 22, according to press reports. ¶5. (C) Meanwhile, an eastern LTTE-breakaway Karuna Faction spokesman told the independent Daily Mirror on August 23 that Karuna cadres had overrun an LTTE camp in Vadamunnai, Batticaloa on August 22, killing two LTTE cadres. Batticaloa LTTE leader Daya Mohan told the press: "The attack was carried out by the army and not the Karuna faction. Two civilians who were near the camp were brutally hacked to death." Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) Comment: The discovery of another claymore bomb in Colombo following the August 14 attack on the convoy of the Pakistani High Commissioner brings the escalating conflict between the Tigers and the GSL closer to home. A lull in military engagement on the Jaffna peninsula could indicate a regrouping on the part of the Tigers rather than an end to significant hostilities in the northern theater. Meanwhile, tit for tat Tiger violence in the east signals a possible COLOMBO 00001379 002 OF 002 escalation of the violence there in the coming weeks. End Comment. MOORE