Incident Summary:

11/25/2019: Assailants abducted a Swiss embassy worker in Colombo, Western, Sri Lanka. The hostage was released later that day. No group claimed responsibility for the incident.

GTD ID:
201911250007

When:
2019-11-25

Country:
Sri Lanka

Region:
South Asia

Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:

Western

City:
Colombo

Attack Information
Type of Attack (more) Hostage Taking (Kidnapping)
Successful Attack? (more) Yes
Target Information (more)
Target Type: Government (Diplomatic)
Name of Entity Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA)
Specific Description Embassy Worker
Nationality of Target Switzerland
Additional Information
Hostages Yes
Number of Hostages 1
US Hostages 0
Hours of Kidnapping 2
Outcome Hostage(s) released by perpetrators
Ransom No
Property Damage No
Weapon Information
Type Sub-type
Unknown
Additional Information
Suicide Attack?No
Part of Multiple Incident?No
Criterion 1 (more) Yes
Criterion 2 (more) Yes
Criterion 3 (more) Yes
Doubt Terrorism Proper (more) Yes
Alternate Designation (more) State Actors
Additional Information There is doubt that this incident meets terrorism-related criteria. The hostage stated that the assailants claimed to be from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), but the department later denied involvement in the kidnapping.
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name Claimed Responsibility
Unknown No
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators Unknown
Number of Captured Perpetrators 0
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties 0 Fatalities / 0 Injured
Total Number of Fatalities 0
Number of U.S. Fatalities 0
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities 0
Total Number of Injured 0
Number of U.S. Injured 0
Number of Perpetrators Injured 0
Sources
"Sri Lankan police probe abduction of Swiss embassy employee," Deutsche Presse-Agentur, November 27, 2019.
"Swiss embassy incident; CID denies its involvement," Daily Mirror Sri Lanka, November 30, 2019.
"Sri Lanka CID denies involvement in the abduction of Swiss Embassy staffer," Colombo Page, November 30, 2019.