Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08COLOMBO114
2008-01-30 11:46:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:
SRI LANKA: RISING VIOLENCE IN NORTH KILLS STUDENTS
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000114
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM PREF MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: RISING VIOLENCE IN NORTH KILLS STUDENTS
ON BUS, PREVENTS DEFENSE SECRETARY FROM LANDING IN JAFFNA
Classified By: DCM James R. Moore. Reasons: 1.4 (b, d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000114
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM PREF MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: RISING VIOLENCE IN NORTH KILLS STUDENTS
ON BUS, PREVENTS DEFENSE SECRETARY FROM LANDING IN JAFFNA
Classified By: DCM James R. Moore. Reasons: 1.4 (b, d)
1. (C) SUMMARY: An LTTE artillery bombardment of the Palaly
base near Jaffna thwarted an attempt by Defense Secretary
Gothabaya Rajapaksa and Army Commander Sarath Fonseka to land
there on January 28, forcing their aircraft to return to
Colombo. Government forces responded by bombing the LTTE
artillery position on Pooneryn peninsula. On January 29, an
attack by a claymore mine on a school bus in the Madhu Church
area near Mannar claimed the lives of 18, including twelve
children. Despite government denials, it appears likely that
the incident resulted from faulty targeting of the vehicle by
a Sri Lankan Army Deep Penetration Unit. End summary.
2. (C) A Sri Lankan Army unit reportedly triggered a
claymore mine on a civilian bus carrying school children in
an area controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) in Mannar District, Northern Province on January 29.
The attack killed 18, including twelve students and two
teachers. Seventeen passengers were injured. While the Sri
Lankan government continues to claim publicly that the attack
was an attempt by the LTTE to "tarnish the image of the
military," and insists that the "LTTE should take
responsibility for it," the Government Agent in Mannar
(strictly protect) told post that a Sri Lankan Army Deep
Penetration Unit was responsible.
3. (U) The explosion is part of an ongoing expansion of
violence in the LTTE-held Mannar District, which the
government is attempting to take as part of its offensive to
wrest control of territory in the northwest and north. The
Army claimed to have taken 16 bunkers and killed 22 LTTE
rebels in the Mannar District on January 29 and reported
seizing control of LTTE positions on the Forward Defense Line
near Jaffna on January 30. It is not possible independently
to verify these claims. The casualty figures given by both
sides are also not reliable. (Note: independent confirmation
of military incidents is generally no longer possible in the
wake of the government's withdrawal from the ceasefire
agreement in early January and the closure of the Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission.)
4. (SBU) The Sri Lankan NGO Foundation for Co-Existence
(FCE) reported in a January 30 briefing that there are now
more than 26,000 Internally Displaced Persons in Mannar
District, and there were at least nine abductions and 20
killed in the area in December and January. (Note: Embassy
believes these figures may be low.) FCE also reports that
although there is no official curfew in Mannar, civilians do
not travel after 7:00 pm, and buses in the area stop running
at 5:00 pm. Fishermen and farmers are prevented from
carrying out their professions because of restrictions on
access to "High Security Zones" in the ocean and on land in
the government controlled areas. There is now no direct
trucking service from Colombo; all cargo must be unloaded and
reloaded at three different places along the Colombo - Mannar
route. Participants in the FCE briefing commented privately
to Emboffs that they are surprised that the LTTE has not been
able to react more forcefully to the government's escalation
in the north and northwest.
5. (U) Further north, an LTTE artillery attack on Palaly
Air Base in Jaffna on the morning of January 29 succeeded in
disrupting air traffic and turning away an aircraft carrying
Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa and Army Commander
Sarath Fonseka. The aircraft returned to Colombo. The
airfield, which handles both civilian and military aircraft,
was closed for several hours.
6. (C) COMMENT: The bus attack was likely a mistaken
targeting on the part of the Sri Lankan Army, which has been
intent on taking control the area around the Madhu Church for
several months. The incident resembled an attack in
COLOMBO 00000114 002 OF 002
September, in which a Catholic priest was killed by a
claymore that targeted the vehicle he was traveling in to
deliver relief supplies. In a similar attack on a bus on
November 27, the date of Prabhakaran's Heroes' Day speech,
the GSL again attempted to point the finger publicly at the
LTTE.
BLAKE
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM PREF MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: RISING VIOLENCE IN NORTH KILLS STUDENTS
ON BUS, PREVENTS DEFENSE SECRETARY FROM LANDING IN JAFFNA
Classified By: DCM James R. Moore. Reasons: 1.4 (b, d)
1. (C) SUMMARY: An LTTE artillery bombardment of the Palaly
base near Jaffna thwarted an attempt by Defense Secretary
Gothabaya Rajapaksa and Army Commander Sarath Fonseka to land
there on January 28, forcing their aircraft to return to
Colombo. Government forces responded by bombing the LTTE
artillery position on Pooneryn peninsula. On January 29, an
attack by a claymore mine on a school bus in the Madhu Church
area near Mannar claimed the lives of 18, including twelve
children. Despite government denials, it appears likely that
the incident resulted from faulty targeting of the vehicle by
a Sri Lankan Army Deep Penetration Unit. End summary.
2. (C) A Sri Lankan Army unit reportedly triggered a
claymore mine on a civilian bus carrying school children in
an area controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) in Mannar District, Northern Province on January 29.
The attack killed 18, including twelve students and two
teachers. Seventeen passengers were injured. While the Sri
Lankan government continues to claim publicly that the attack
was an attempt by the LTTE to "tarnish the image of the
military," and insists that the "LTTE should take
responsibility for it," the Government Agent in Mannar
(strictly protect) told post that a Sri Lankan Army Deep
Penetration Unit was responsible.
3. (U) The explosion is part of an ongoing expansion of
violence in the LTTE-held Mannar District, which the
government is attempting to take as part of its offensive to
wrest control of territory in the northwest and north. The
Army claimed to have taken 16 bunkers and killed 22 LTTE
rebels in the Mannar District on January 29 and reported
seizing control of LTTE positions on the Forward Defense Line
near Jaffna on January 30. It is not possible independently
to verify these claims. The casualty figures given by both
sides are also not reliable. (Note: independent confirmation
of military incidents is generally no longer possible in the
wake of the government's withdrawal from the ceasefire
agreement in early January and the closure of the Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission.)
4. (SBU) The Sri Lankan NGO Foundation for Co-Existence
(FCE) reported in a January 30 briefing that there are now
more than 26,000 Internally Displaced Persons in Mannar
District, and there were at least nine abductions and 20
killed in the area in December and January. (Note: Embassy
believes these figures may be low.) FCE also reports that
although there is no official curfew in Mannar, civilians do
not travel after 7:00 pm, and buses in the area stop running
at 5:00 pm. Fishermen and farmers are prevented from
carrying out their professions because of restrictions on
access to "High Security Zones" in the ocean and on land in
the government controlled areas. There is now no direct
trucking service from Colombo; all cargo must be unloaded and
reloaded at three different places along the Colombo - Mannar
route. Participants in the FCE briefing commented privately
to Emboffs that they are surprised that the LTTE has not been
able to react more forcefully to the government's escalation
in the north and northwest.
5. (U) Further north, an LTTE artillery attack on Palaly
Air Base in Jaffna on the morning of January 29 succeeded in
disrupting air traffic and turning away an aircraft carrying
Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa and Army Commander
Sarath Fonseka. The aircraft returned to Colombo. The
airfield, which handles both civilian and military aircraft,
was closed for several hours.
6. (C) COMMENT: The bus attack was likely a mistaken
targeting on the part of the Sri Lankan Army, which has been
intent on taking control the area around the Madhu Church for
several months. The incident resembled an attack in
COLOMBO 00000114 002 OF 002
September, in which a Catholic priest was killed by a
claymore that targeted the vehicle he was traveling in to
deliver relief supplies. In a similar attack on a bus on
November 27, the date of Prabhakaran's Heroes' Day speech,
the GSL again attempted to point the finger publicly at the
LTTE.
BLAKE