Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06COLOMBO601
2006-04-12 13:39:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:
SRI LANKA: MORE BOMB BLASTS AND BLOODSHED IN
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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
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
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