SRI LANKA: MORE BOMB BLASTS AND BLOODSHED IN

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000601 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: MORE BOMB BLASTS AND BLOODSHED IN TROUBLED TRINCOMALEE REF: A. COLOMBO 592 ¶B. COLOMBO 600 ¶1. (SBU) A recent upsurge in violence that has seen 30 people killed in the north and east in just five days continued April 12 when a series of bomb blasts shook Trincomalee town in the late afternoon. Although details remain sketchy, information culled from police, journalists, local residents and NGO workers indicates that two bombs exploded around 4:00 p.m. local time. According to Sri Lanka Army Spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe, the bombs' target was a military checkpoint located near a downtown vegetable market, which was crowded with shoppers making last-minute purchases before the Sinhala New Year begins on April 13. A third explosion occurred shortly thereafter at the same spot where a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP's car was stoned by an angry mob the previous day (Ref A). According to local media sources, eleven people, including one Army soldier, were killed in the three blasts and another 42 were injured. ¶2. (SBU) According to local sources, six Tamil-owned businesses in the town, including a gasoline station, were torched in subsequent arson attacks. A curfew was declared by local authorities at 6:00 p.m. local time. No local staff were present at the AID/Office of Transition Initiatives office at the time of the explosion, and all staff members are accounted for. The only expatriate staff member is currently out of Sri Lanka. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: This latest development is the most horrific in a string of increasingly distressing events over the past five days (Reftels). Up till now, the mounting body count, while deplorable, remained largely limited to security forces, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres, and pro- or anti-LTTE frontmen/politicians/paramilitaries. These attacks are the first to cause such high civilian casualties since the beginning of the ceasefire in 2002. Although no one (as is typical here) has claimed responsibility for the violence, there are victims on both sides of the ethnic divide. These latest attacks and their arson aftermath evoke the specter of bloody communal strife we had hoped might be over for Sri Lanka. LUNSTEAD