Incident Summary:
12/27/2008: A male suicide bomber, suspected to be a Tamil Tiger rebel from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), blew himself up near the St. Anne's Catholic Church at the post of the Civil Defense Force (CDF) in Wattala, a suburb of Colombo in Sri Lanka. The blast resulted in the death of eight people, including six CDF personnel, an army man and a civilian military, and the injury of 17 others. Vehicles at the nearby market had their windscreens shattered. Authorities suspected the bomber chose the location because perhaps he knew that 150 police officers who help patrol the road to the airport would be stationed there for the weekly festival that was taking place, which was sure to draw a large crowd. Police noted that the suicide bomber walked into an area where CDF officers were stationed and detonated his explosives.
Overview
GTD ID:
200812280005
When:
2008-12-27
Country:
Sri Lanka
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Western
City:
Wattala
Location Details:
near St. Anne's Catholic Church at the post of the Civil Defense Force in Wattala, a suburb of Colombo
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Military |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Sri Lanka Civil Defense Force |
| Specific Description |
officers of the Sri Lankan Civil Defense Force (CDF) |
| Nationality of Target |
Sri Lanka |
| Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
|
| Specific Description |
civilians at the market festival |
| Nationality of Target |
Sri Lanka |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
No |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
Yes |
| Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
| Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Explosives |
Suicide (carried bodily by human being) |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| suicide bomber |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | Yes |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
9 Fatalities / 17 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
9 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
1 |
| Total Number of Injured |
17 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| Iqbal Athas, "Church blast kills Sri Lanka officers," CNN.com, December 27, 2008. |
| Amal Jayasinghe, "Suicide blast near Sri Lankan capital kills eight: officials," Agence France-Presse, December 28, 2008. |
| "An Attack Here," The Statesman (India), December 29, 2008. |
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
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