SRI LANKA: BOMB BLAST SOUTH OF COLOMBO KILLS 21,

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000554 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: BOMB BLAST SOUTH OF COLOMBO KILLS 21, INJURES 50 TO 70 ¶1. (SBU) At around 7:30am on June 6, a bomb exploded targeting a crowded public transport bus in the Katubedda area on the Moratuwa-Piliyandala road (25 kilometers south of Colombo). Police at the scene confirmed to Emboff that it was a roadside claymore mine. Twenty-one people were killed and 50 to 70 injured. Casualties were so high because unlike other recent bombs, this one contained ball bearings. The bus was traveling from Kottawa to Mount Lavinia when the blast occurred in front of the University of Moratuwa, a top engineering university. The Defense Ministry reported that the roadside bomb had been placed between a Buddhist temple and the university. The Ministry blamed the attack on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE usually does not claim responsibility for attacks. ¶2. (U) Police confirmed that a second claymore mine was found this morning in Dehiwela, another suburb south of Colombo. Due to this, police have imposed a curfew in the areas of Mt. Lavinia, Moratuwa, Katubedda and Piliyandala from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm today. (Press reported a third mine found in Mt. Lavinia, but police told Emboff that these reports were erroneously referring to the Dehiwela mine.) There were also rumors about a claymore mine found in the Colpetty neighborhood of Colombo, but after a police search, nothing was found. ¶3. (U) Separately, press reported that on the night of June 5, police found and defused a time bomb at Ragama on Airport Road, northeast of Colombo. The bomb was reportedly found planted near a petrol shed and was scheduled to explode at 8:35 pm. Press reported that police believe the bomber could have been targeting sailors traveling to a Navy camp close to the petrol shed. ¶4. (SBU) The Embassy has received no reports indicating that private American citizens were in proximity to the blast in Katubedda (Moratuwa area). Embassy security policies prohibit Amcit Embassy employees from using buses as modes of transportation. ¶5. (U) This attack comes two days after the June 4 explosion on a railway track as a train bound for Colombo was traveling between the suburb Dehiwela, and the southern Colombo neighborhood of Wellawatte. Twenty-seven people suffered minor injuries and were admitted to the hospital. There was minor damage to the railway track and a car of the train. Police described the device as a remotely detonated parcel bomb. The explosive was detonated near Dehiwela station, the scene of a May 26th blast which killed at least nine people, and which the government blamed on the LTTE. The Embassy received no reports of American citizens in proximity to the blast. Press reported that on the night of June 4 in northern Sri Lanka, police arrested a key suspect in the attack, who reportedly had been seen fleeing the scene. MOORE