Incident Summary:
04/21/2019: Two suicide bombers, identified as Zahran Hashim and Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim, detonated explosives at a restaurant at the Shangri-La Hotel on Wellawaya Highway in Colombo, Western, Sri Lanka. This was one of eight coordinated attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. In addition to eight suicide bombers, at least 258 people, including four United States citizens, were killed and at least 500 others were injured across the blasts. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the incident and stated that Christians and citizens of "coalition countries" were targeted in the attacks. Authorities, however, questioned the veracity of this claim. Jamaat al-Tawhid al-Watania also claimed responsibility for the attacks. Additionally, sources attributed the attacks to National Thowheeth Jama'ath and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim.
Overview
GTD ID:
201904210004
When:
2019-04-21
Country:
Sri Lanka
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Western
City:
Colombo
Location Details:
The incident occurred on Wellawaya Highway.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Business |
Name of Entity |
Shangri-La Hotel |
Specific Description |
Hotel |
Nationality of Target |
Sri Lanka |
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Not Applicable |
Specific Description |
Civilian |
Nationality of Target |
Multinational |
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 |
Two explosives-laden backpacks containing triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and ball bearings and iron nails as shrapnel were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | Yes |
Part of Multiple Incident? | Yes |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
Sources also attributed the attack to Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim. The victims included civilians from the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, China, the Netherlands, India, Portugal, Japan and Turkey. Casualty numbers conflict across sources. Following GTD protocol, the most recent reliable estimates are reported here. Casualty numbers represent a division of the total number of those killed and wounded across incidents 201904210001, 201904210002, 201904210003, 201904210004, 201904210005, 201904210006 and 201904210007. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
2 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
38 Fatalities / 71 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
38 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
2 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
2 |
Total Number of Injured |
71 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
"Sri Lanka Attacks: What We Know and Don’t Know," New York Times, April 24, 2019. |
"Sri Lankan investigator says no direct IS link in Easter attacks," Xinhua News Agency, July 25, 2019. |
"Sri Lanka identifies 9 Easter suicide bombers," The Washington Post, May 2, 2019. |
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