Incident Summary:
12/07/2005: Suspected members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) threw a grenade near a fruit stand in Vavuniya town center, Sri Lanka, around 4:00pm, killing one civilian and wounding eight others, including one soldier.
Overview
GTD ID:
200512070003
When:
2005-12-07
Country:
Sri Lanka
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Northern
City:
Vavuniya
Location Details:
A fruit stand in the main bus station in Vavuniya town center, approximately 210 km (130 miles) north of Colombo.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Business |
Name of Entity |
Vavuniya town center fruit stand |
Specific Description |
Sri Lankan civilians in the vicinity of the fruit stand. |
Nationality of Target |
Sri Lanka |
Target Type: Military |
Name of Entity |
Sri Lankan military |
Specific Description |
Sri Lankan soldier |
Nationality of Target |
Sri Lanka |
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Sri Lankan civilians |
Specific Description |
Civilian in the vicinity of the fruit stand |
Nationality of Target |
Sri Lanka |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Unknown |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Grenade |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The grenade was thrown by attackers from an upper floor of a building near the fruit stand. It is unclear whether the target of the attack was the fruit stand and civilians patronizing the stand, or a military motorcycle in the area of the fruit stand. Sources state either that the target was the fruit stand, or that the target was the motorcycle and the attackers missed from their spot in the upper floor of a nearby building and hit the fruit stand instead. Recent attacks by the LTTE on government forces are cited by sources. One of the wounded was a government soldier, while the other wounded and the fatality were civilians. The soldier was waiting for a bus home when the attack occurred. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
1 Fatalities / 8 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
1 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
8 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
"Grenade attack in northern Sri Lankan kills one dead, wounds eight others," Associated Press, December 07, 2005. |
"Civilian killed in northern Sri Lanka attack," Xinhua News Agency, December 07, 2005. |
"Security situation as at UTC 1030 (1630) 07 December 2005," The Sinhalaya News Agency, December 08, 2005. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties