SRI LANKA: SUICIDE BLAST KILLS 12 POLICEMEN,

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000588 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS, DC/IP/SCA, DS/ITA E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER MOPS ASEC CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: SUICIDE BLAST KILLS 12 POLICEMEN, INJURES OVER 20 IN VAVUNIYA Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James R. Moore REASONS: 1.4(b,d). ¶1. (U) A little after 7:00 am on June 16 a suicide bomber on a motorbike killed himself and 12 police personnel in front of the Senior Superintendent of Police's (SSP) office in Vavuniya. RSO FSN's contacts reported that 19 additional police personnel were admitted to the general hospital in Vavuniya with injuries. Vavuniya hospital officials report admitting as many as 40 injured persons, including civilians. According to pro-LTTE website TamilNet, the attacker rode into the police barrack on a motorcycle while a group of policemen were emerging from the SSP's office. The barrack is located on the main A9 highway linking the Tiger-controlled Vanni to the south. The government has blamed the attack on the LTTE. Post has received no reports indicating that private American citizens were injured or killed in the blast. ¶2. (C) Some police and intelligence sources have speculated that Senior Superintendent of Police Bernard Silva may have been the target. However, Silva left on vacation beginning June 15 and is currently in Colombo. Others say the attack may have been retaliation for recent deep penetration unit operations north of Vavuniya. RSO FSN contacts noted that the LTTE has seldom used suicide attacks on nonspecific targets, or used specialized Black Tiger suicide cadre for such a low level target. They suggest that this latest attack may indicate a broadening of potential LTTE suicide targets. MOORE