LTTE Terrorists Explode Bomb in Colombo, Killing 13 and wounding 27
On 5 January 2000, an LTTE suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded 27 near the Sri Lankan prime minister's office in the capital Colombo on Wednesday in the second suicide bomb attack in the last three weeks.
Site of the bomb attack
Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike was not in her office at the time of the explosion, officials said.
Police belive the blast was carried out by LTTE terrorists who also attempted to assassinate of President Chandrika Kumaratunga --Bandaranaike's daughter -- at a campaign rally on December 18 using a suicide bomber.
Location of the bomb attack
That blast killed at least 26 people and left more than 100 wounded, including Kumaratunga, who may have lost the sight in her right eye as a result. She won re-election days later.
Officials at the National Hospital in Colombo said 15 of those wounded in Wednesday's attack, three of them seriously hurt, were still in hospital. "Two women constables and two policemen of the prime minister's office, a passer-by and the suicide bomber were killed in the explosion," Deputy Inspector General of Police Jagath Jayawardena told reporters.
Hospital officials said five people died en route to hospital and two others died after their arrival.
In a separate incident, a prominent Tamil politician and lawyer, Kumar Ponnambalam, was shot dead in a Colombo suburb by a gunman who escaped, police and witnesses said. LTTE terrorists have killed hundreds of Tamil politicians in the past, and are also the prime suspects in this murder.
Kumaratunga had called a meeting of top security officials to discuss the security situation in the capital and an investigation had been launched. Parliament is to meet on Thursday to debate an extension to the country's long-running state of emergency.
Security officials said the road on which the explosion occurred is commonly used by VIPs, but it was not immediately clear if the suicide bomber was targeting a particular person.
Some ministers were expected to take that road on their way to Kumaratunga's official residence for a cabinet meeting.
Intelligence agencies had recently warned that suicide bomb attacks on leading politicians were being planned and police had tightened security in the capital.
The office lies in a plush residential area near a girl's school that was closed for winter holidays. The Russian and Saudi embassies, also nearby, were not damaged.
Officials said the suicide bomber, believed to have been a woman, was walking past the prime minister's office when security guards stopped her for questioning. The bomber then triggered the explosion.
Police and soldiers cordoned off the road as investigators descended on the blast site. No one has claimed responsibility. But weeks before the election, LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran heaped abuse on Kumaratunga and said her five-year rule was a "curse" on Tamils.
Kumaratunga's government has proposed a package of measures devolving power to regions, partly to meet the Tamil demand for a homeland. But she has also vigorously prosecuted the war against the terrorists.
The LTTE have been blamed for various bomb blasts in Colombo, including the 1996 explosion at the Central Bank building in the busy Fort area of the capital which killed nearly 100 people and wounded more than 1,300.
In 1997, a truck bomb severely damaged the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in the Fort area. Many other buildings, including hotels and the finance ministry, were damaged.
Last year, an LTTE suicide bomber killed prominent Tamil lawmaker Neelan Thiruchelvam, seen as co-author of the government's political devolution package.
