Terrorism-related Incidents outside the Northeast and Colombo - 2008

December 29: Police at Gonapitiya in the Kandy District arrested a 21-year old Jaffna resident from a house in Walapone on suspicion. Subsequent interrogation revealed that his brother had worked as a ‘lieutenant’ in the Sea Wing of the outfit and had died in an attack on an unspecified date.

December 14: A Police Officer In Charge, an Inspector and a Constable was arrested by the Terrorism Investigation Division for their alleged involvement in abductions, extortions and aiding and abetting the LTTE, Police spokesman Ranjith Gunesekera said on December 14. Investigations are continuing to ascertain their involvement in a major vehicle smuggling racket which supplied a variety of vehicles to the LTTE, Gunasekera added.

December 2: The dead bodies of four people, including three children, were recovered at Maithreepura village in the Padaviya area of Anuradhapura district. All the victims were found hacked to death. Meanwhile, Padaviya police found a bag packed with arms and ammunition in thick jungle at Kuda Athimale. According to the Police, the bag contained 10 hand grenades, seven side charge bombs, nine pressure mines, 46 T-56 cartridges, three LTTE uniforms and medical and food items.

The SFs attacked a LTTE group in the Bogoda area of Thanthirimale bordering the Wilpattu forest reserve. During subsequent search operations, the troops recovered the dead body of a militant, along with a T-56 riffle, four magazines and a belt order.

November 28: The SFs recovered a pair of footwear laden with C-4 explosives lying by the side of Kapuwatta by-road in the Gampaha district.

November 25: A group of LTTE militants moving in the Ambagaswewa area, about 10-kilometre northeast of Horowpathana, in the Anuradhapura district were observed and attacked by the troops. Later, troops with the assistance of Civil Defence Force personnel conducted a search operation in the area and recovered the dead bodies of four militants.

November 24: One soldier was injured when he accidentally trod an LTTE laid anti-personnel mine during a search operation conducted in the jungles, north of Galge area on the Kumbukkanoya road in the Moneragala district.

November 19: Four civilians who were abducted by suspected LTTE cadres at Rathmale in the Horowpathana area of Anuradhapura district were released on November 18-evening while a special search operation was undergoing. Police said the abductors on November 17 had detained a group of nine civilians, sand miners in the Rathmale area, first and then released five of them on the same night demanding them to bring back food and other essential items in exchange for the release of others. The suspected group has handed the abductees SLR 40,000 to purchase their needs.

November 6: Three top LTTE cadres deployed to spy on road blocks and security arrangements in military camps were arrested at Poronuwa in the Kahawatta area of Ratnapura district.

November 2: At least 93 people were arrested for suspicious terrorist connections in the village of Kalpitiya, about 165-km from the capital Colombo, in the Puttalam district. All arrested were people who had arrived in Kalpitiya from Northern and Eastern provinces and living in temporary locations in the village, police added. They were arrested during a house to house search for suspicious terrorist connections.

October 31: Police found a suspicious parcel abandoned near the Bank of Ceylon building in the Nuwara Eliya town area. The parcel contained 66 rounds of T-56 ammunition in the parcel.

October 28: A minor explosion occurred in the Katudeniya area of Matale district. However, no casualty was reported.

October 19: One soldier sustained injuries when an LTTE militant fired towards the troops in the Block 2 area of Yala in the Hambantota district.

Deputy Inspector General of the Central Province, Pujith Jayasundara, recently said that Police has recovered only 1,400 kg of the stock of explosives allegedly sent to the central hill country from the North by the LTTE to be used for their devastating terror attacks and that 600-kg are yet to be located. He urged the civilians to be vigilant and look for suspicious persons or activities for possible attacks in the Central Province where the missing high powered explosives had ended up and would be used. "We have already taken 74 members of the Tiger terrorists into custody from the Central Province. They are trained terrorists to carryout the attacks and disguised in the form of teachers, barbers, hotel workers, drivers, estate workers, students, health workers, masons," DIG Jayasundara explained.

October 17: The LTTE militants opened fire towards soldiers on duty at Block 2 in the Yala area of Hambantota district injuring a soldier who died later. Troops opened retaliatory fire and repulsed the attack.

Troops recovered one hand grenade from the Saliyawewa area of Puttalam district.

October 7: The dead bodies of four civilians, suspected to have been chopped to death by the LTTE militants, were recovered from the deep jungle areas off Dekethipothana at Horowpathana in the Anuradhapura district. Those four civilians, according to a Police complaint, have entered jungle areas on 27th September but failed to return home.

October 6: 28 persons, including UNP NCPC Member, Maj. General Janaka Perera and his wife; UNP Anuradhapura district Manager Dr. John Pulle who was also the former Chairman of the Rajarata Bus Company and his wife Dr. Mrs. John Pulle; UNP Legal Advisor Attorney-at-law A.C.S. Hameed; NCPC UNP Member Shantha Dissanayake and UNP Provincial Council candidate Subashi Charles were killed in a LTTE carried out suicide bomb attack inside the UNP office near the Old Bus Stand in Anuradhapura. More than 86 persons sustained injuries in the blast that occurred around 8:45am (SLST) during a function held to declare open the new UNP office, military sources said. According to eyewitnesses a suicide cadre a dark and short man had reached the function and unbuttoned his shirt facing Major General Perera and the crowd instantaneously killing himself and the victims. According to investigators only the legs of the suicide cadre’s has been left after the blast. "He had used a relatively large quantity of explosives for this blast as his head was also blown off without leaving a trace about his appearance."

September 27: A soldier was killed in a shootout between the troops and the militants in the Yala National Park of Hambantota district.

September 23: One soldier sustained injuries in an encounter with the militants along the Menik ganga (river) in the Block 2 area of Yala in the Hambantota district.

September 21: Police have arrested 22 Tamil men suspected of having connections to the LTTE from the Nuwara Eliya district. The men reportedly have received training on military activities and military intelligence from the outfit.

September 17: The SFs recovered 10 detonators, 100 grams of C-4 explosives, one gelignite stick and a 20-feet long detonator code at Horiwila in the Nochchiyagama area of Anuradhapura district.

September 6: The Sri Lanka Police arrested three persons who were involved in a large number of thefts and lootings in the Nuwara Eliya district and sending the money to the LTTE in North.

September 2: Around 300 to 400 Tamil youths from Kandy had been taken to the North and trained by the LTTE for subversive activities during the cease-fire in 2002.

August 25: The SFs recovered one T-56 weapon, four T-56 magazines, 120 rounds of T-56 ammunition, two hand grenades, one map, one compass, two cyanide capsules, one mobile phone, one belt order, one pack, food items and some water cans at Abimanpura in the Kebithigollewa area of Anuradhapura district.

August 22: An unidentified assailant lobbed a hand grenade at two Sri Lankan Muslim Ministers at Kaduruwela in the Polonnaruwa district. Amir Ali, Minister of Disaster Relief Services and Hussain Bahila, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs were the target of this hand grenade attack, Police said. The Blast occurred while the two Ministers were on the way to their rest house after the election campaign for the Provincial Council Elections to be held on August 23.

Police recovered eight gelignite sticks mixed with C-4 explosives, two detonators and 138-kg of steel from the Balagolla area of Kandy district.

August 16: The SFs recovered one claymore mine of about 15-kg with a remote controller unit and some accessories from the jungle area near the Kuda Bulankulama tank in Anuradhapura district.

Police arrested four key LTTE suspects wanted in connection with 13 bomb blasts in the hill country area, including Kandy and Matale. They were arrested from Matale, Rathwatta and Elkaduwa. In addition, Police also arrested six LTTE suspects in Rathwatta several days ago along with 13-kg of high explosives, 30 detonators, 11 feet long detonator codes and cyanide capsules. Investigations revealed that these suspects are linked to 13 blasts in Kandy and suburbs, including the explosions of buses in Dambulla, Digampatha and Polgolla. These suspects had also attempted to assassinate Government Defence spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.

August 5: The SFs recovered one abandoned hand grenade from the Madukanda area of Polonnaruwa district.

July 23: Police in the Kalutara district arrested a six member gang of robbers and seized a van from them while they were proceeding to the North to sell it to a businessman having LTTE links. Police said the van was robbed on July 22-night at Embilipitiya in the adjoining Ratnapura district.

Police also arrested a suspected female LTTE suicide bomber in the Horana area of the Kalutara district. The 34-year-old suspect, a resident of Kilinochchi, was arrested in the vicinity of a garment factory at Moonagama.

July 12: Troops recovered three hand grenades from the Kalettewa area in Anuradhapura district.

July 11: At least four civilians, including two women and a 12-year-old child, were killed and 25 others sustained injuries when a group of LTTE militants shot at a bus plying from Moneragala to Kataragma on the Buttala- Kataragma main road.

One Special Task Force trooper was injured in an abortive LTTE attempt to attack a Police roadblock near Halmillawetya junction in the Anuradhapura district.

July 3: Police seized 150-kgs of gelignite explosives and arrested a suspect together with a van at a road block in the Kalpitiya area of Puttalam district.

July 2: The SFs arrested a woman carrying one kg of C-4 explosives, hidden inside a coconut, from a roadblock nearby Cemetery Road on the Horowpathana- Vavuniya main road in Anuradhapura district.

June 24: The Matale Police raided a house at Palapathwala and arrested an LTTE suspect along with an unregistered motorcycle hidden inside the house for more than eight years. The 55-year-old suspect married to a Sinhala woman hails from Oddusuddan.

June 24: The Matale Police acting on a tip off raided a house at Palapathwala and arrested an LTTE suspect along with an unregistered motorcycle hidden inside the house for more than eight years. The 55-year-old suspect married to a Sinhala woman hails from Oddusuddan. Investigations revealed that their two sons are living in Oddusuddan. Matale Superintendent of Police Macarthy Perera said investigations are continuing to establish what type of contact the suspect had with the LTTE and see whether the motorcycle was kept for any subversive activity.

June 21: A sachet of explosives containing 800-gm of C4 placed near a column of the railway bridge at Nawayalathenna on the Kandy– Matale railway line was recovered and later defused by the security forces.

June 19: A 60-kg consignment of 373 gelignite sticks concealed among gunny bags of rice was seized by the Police from a lorry at Pandulagama in the Nochchiyagama area of Anuradhapura district.

June 14: The SFs recovered four hand grenades, two RPG chargers, one 60-mm mortar charger, a pistol pouch, 267 T-56 live rounds, 25 9-mm pistol rounds and a 25 meters wire roll concealed under a tree at Kalikovilkulam in the Udappuwa area of Puttalam district.

June 13: 35 gelignite sticks being transported in a lorry was seized by the Police personal at the Madavachchiya roadblock in Anuradhapura district. Two suspects aboard the vehicle, travelling from Colombo to an undisclosed destination, were also arrested.

June 11: The SFs recovered two T–56 assault rifle, eight packets of C–4 explosives each containing 2-kilograms, 40 detonators, 300-kilograms of TNT explosives, 10 rifle sling and large stock of ammunition from the Magastota area of Nuwara Eliya district. The Colombo Crime Division jointly with the Mount Lavinia Police raided a house at Soysapura Housing Scheme where explosives and bombs have reportedly been stored. The inmate who is suspected to be a leading member of the LTTE and involved in recent terrorist atrocities in the Colombo city had left the house when the Police entered it after braking open the door. According to police, the main suspect in the recent train blast at Dehiwala has revealed that this place was frequently visited by top LTTE members who have arrived in Colombo to carry out various terrorist attacks on civilians and VIPs and disrupt the public lives.

A time bomb was recovered and defused by the SFs in the Anuradhapura city close to the main clock tower along Main Street opposite the People's Bank. The bomb was hidden in a parcel containing a pair of shoes in a barrel placed on the roadside near a hotel.

June 10: Troops recovered two T-81 weapons, 156 rounds of ammunition, four magazines and one ICOM radio set at Dalukana in the eastern Welikanda area of Polonnaruwa district.

June 7: Troops confronted with the LTTE militants in the Wilpattu area of Anuradhapura district and subsequently recovered the dead body of one militant along with one T-56 weapon and a communication set from the area.

June 6: At least two civilians were killed and more than 20 others injured in a LTTE-triggered explosion inside a private bus plying from Matale to Kandy via Wattegama near the Polgolla Open University, just 500-metres away from the Polgolla dam across the Mahaweli River. The suspect behind the blast was later chased and caught by the civilians along with a wire roll and a bottle of poison in his hands.

All inmates, including two civilians from Jaffna on a visit were arrested from a house at Panawatte, about 2-km to the north of Yatiyantota town centre, on the Hatton road in Kegalle district along with one hand grenade, 18 rounds of .22 and .38 ammunition, 820-g of C-4 explosives and three gelignite sticks.

June 5: The Army Bomb Disposal Unit recovered and defused a 2.5-kg time bomb near a crowded bus halt and a filling station at Alapitivala Mahabage road in the Ragama area of Gampaha district at 8.25 pm, just five minutes before it was set to explode at 8.30 pm.

May 31: A businessman, identified as Selliah Selvarajah (31), was shot dead by an unidentified assailant at Horana in the Kalutara district.

May 30: One trooper was wounded in an encounter with suspected militants at Himitillawa Kanda in the Moneragala district.

The Police recovered five LTTE suicide jackets from Maina Doopatha, an islet in the Chilaw area of Puttalam district. Four of the jackets had been filled with high explosives. One person has been arrested for interrogation about the recovery.

May 29: Three persons, including a woman, were killed by the LTTE militants at the Zone 18 village in Anuradhapura district.

May 24: SFs defused a time-bomb with C4 explosives from a private bus proceeding towards Kirillawala in the Gampaha district.

The Wattegama Police recovered a time bomb near an electricity transformer at Madawala Junction in the Kandy district.

May 22: The SFs recovered three hand grenades in the Kalaoya area of Anuradhapura district.

May 5: Police on May 2 arrested two youths in the Pasyala area of Gampaha district for extorting money from a leading businessmen posing off as LTTE operatives, Officer-in-Charge Nittambuwa C.I. Vipula Seneviratna said, adding, "The suspects had called businessmen and threatened them to part with large sums of money or face death." The two suspects, identified as Gemini and Shiyam, had been carrying out extortion for a long period in the Nittambuwa, Ja-ela and Wattala areas posing as LTTE cadres.

April 29: The Bandaragama Police recovered 10 gelignite slabs, two-kgs of ammonium nitrate, 400-grams of explosive powder, four detonators, one flexible wire roll, five-kgs of iron nuts and bolts and three-kgs of iron nails from the Veedagama area of Kalutara district.

April 28: One civilian, identified as U. Jayawardhana, was killed when his motorbike hit a LTTE laid claymore mine at Yakawewa in the Kebithigollewa area of Anuradhapura district.

The police recovered a powerful bomb from the central bus stand at Galgamuwa area in the Kurunegala district.

April 22: The SFs during a search conducted on a house in the Karuwalagaswewa area of Puttalam recovered one claymore mine, one shot gun with 45 ammunition, one 2-m-long detonator code, 10-m of flexible wire, one electric detonator code, one sword and one sabre.

April 16: Suspected LTTE militants are reported to have destroyed two power transformers in Kandy. The transformers supply power to Yakgahawewa and Panwila areas in Kandy covering over 25,000 households.

During a routine search conducted on vehicles in the Pethavadiya area of Puttalam district, the police seized a vehicle carrying 663 bags of explosives, each containing 150-gm and seven rolls of 35 ft-long detonator codes. Two persons aboard the vehicle were arrested.

April 15: Two civil security officers were injured in a LTTE-triggered claymore mine explosion in the Kebithigollewa area of Anuradhapura district.

April 9: Police recovered a large stock of TNT explosives from Nilagammana in the Kandy district. Approximately 110 pounds of TNT explosive slabs were found on information obtained from an LTTE militant arrested recently who swallowed a cyanide capsule following the arrest. The militant is presently undergoing treatment at the Peradeniya hospital.

April 6: Sri Lanka Highway Minister and chief government whip Jeyaraj Fernandopulle and 13 others were killed in a suicide attack carried out by the LTTE at a sporting event in the Weliweriya area, about 25-km north of capital Colombo, of Gampaha district. Fernandopulle was about to inaugurate a marathon when a suspected LTTE suicide bomber disguised as a marathon runner blew himself up, killing the Minister and at least 11 others, including National Athletic coach Lakshman De Alwis and Olympic marathon runner and national record holder K.A. Karunaratna. Over 90 people, including Gampaha Division Senior Superintendent of Police Hector Darmasiri, were injured in the blast.

Two persons were injured in an LTTE triggered claymore mine explosion at Halmillawetya in the Kebithigollewa area of Anuradhapura district that targeting a combined route clearing team of the Special Task Force and Civil Security Officers.

Two Ceylon Electricity Board electric transformers at 8th milepost of Arambepura, on the Kandy – Matale road, in the Kandy district were blown up with explosives by suspected LTTE militants, Colombo Page reported.

April 2: Suspected LTTE militants killed a man and his son when they had gone to collect firewood in the Anuradhapura district.

March 29: The Deputy Chairman of the Moneragala local council, Dr. A. Muththulingam, was shot dead in his clinic by unidentified gunmen.

March 19: The Medawachchi police seized a large stock of explosives and accessories from a van which was proceeding towards Mannar in the Anuradhapura district. The seizure included 242 gelignite rods and 125-meters of detonator cord. The driver and another suspect were arrested.

March 17: The police recovered a hand grenade inside a privately owned bus transporting schoolchildren at Palmadulla in the Ratnapura. The bus driver was arrested in this connection.

March 14: Troops found a parcel containing fourteen 9-mm pistol rounds inside a Matara bound bus passenger bus at Wellawaya in the Moneragala district.

March 12: Police arrested a teacher in Kandy who is alleged to have had connections with the LTTE intelligence wing. The teacher is suspected to have received training from the outfit and is reported to have attended the funeral of the outfit's political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvam who was killed in an air strike in November 2007.

March 8: A soldier was killed and two others were injured in a claymore mine explosion triggered by the LTTE on the old Buttala road in the Hambantota district.

March 5: One soldier was killed and another sustained injuries in an LTTE-triggered improvised explosive device explosion in the Eluwankulama sector of the Puttalam sector.

March 1: The troops detected and defused a claymore mine placed near an electricity transformer in the Mahawewa area on Negombo - Puttalam road.

February 28: The Kalpitiya police recovered three huge claymore mines, seven hand grenades and one remote controller from a shrub near Kalpitiya lagoon in the Puttalam district.

February 19: Supply of electricity to many residential areas of Mundalama in the Puttalam district was disrupted when suspected LTTE militants destroyed a wayside transformer using explosives.

An unidentified mob stormed the house of a person, who had been allegedly hired by the LTTE to assassinate Deputy Minster of Finance Ranjith Siyambalpitiya, at Adurupana in the Kegalle district and set it ablaze after removing the residents, police sources said, adding, the suspected hired assassin was an army deserter. Police recently arrested the suspect along with four others on the suspicion of undertaking a contract worth of two million rupees from the outfit to assassinate Minister Siyambalapitiya.

An intelligence operative of the LTTE, identified as Thangarajah Shiwakumar, was arrested by the police at Wanathawilluwa in the Kalpitiya area of Puttalam district. The suspect a resident at Olumaduwai in the Mannar district had reportedly come to the Kerathivu area three days ago in order to gather information necessary for a terrorist attack in the Kalpitiya, Wanathavilluwa or Puttlama areas.

February 2: At least 20 passengers, including some Buddhist devotees on a pilgrimage to the sacred Anuradhapura city, aboard a bus were killed and 50 others injured when the LTTE militants detonated an explosive device at Dambulla bus stand in the Matale district.

February 1: Five soldiers were injured due to the explosion of an LTTE laid booby trap at Mullikulam in the Mannar district.

Three soldiers were injured due to the explosion of an anti-personnel mine (APM) at Mullikulam and Kokkuthuduvai in the Vavuniya district.

January 31: A soldier sustained injuries due to an APM explosion in the Pilimagala area of Hambantota district.

January 21: A team of police personnel who were providing security at Allimankada in the Kithulkote area of Thanamalwila in the Moneragala district confronted a group of LTTE militants and in the ensuing gun-battle, three policemen were killed.

January 17: At least 10 civilians, including two home guards, were shot dead by the LTTE militants at Hambegamuwa in the Thanamalwila area of Moneragala district.

January 16: At least 26 civilians, including some school children and women, aboard a Central Transport Bus proceeding to the Buttala town of Moneragala district, were killed and 67 others injured in a claymore mine explosion triggered by the LTTE in the Helagama area near Ella road. The bus was simultaneously fired upon by the militants immediately after the claymore mine explosion.

A group of four LTTE militants, allegedly scurrying back into the jungles minutes after triggering the claymore mine explosion targeting the passenger bus, also reportedly shot dead five farmers in their paddy-fields at Dambeyaya in the Heentenna area.

The same group of militants activated a claymore mine targeting a military Unicorn truck, about 2-km north of Galge, on the Buttala–Kataragama road and injured three soldiers.