Western Province (NA): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2008

The United National Party (UNP) Member of Parliament (MP), T. Maheshwaran, was shot at and injured by suspected ‘pistol gang’ cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) while he was offering prayers inside Sivam Kovil (Temple of Lord Shiva) at Kotahena in the capital Colombo on January 1, reports Sri Lanka Army (SLA). The Parliamentarian, however, succumbed to his injuries. One of the nine more civilians wounded in the incident also died of his injuries. Meanwhile the Kotahena police claimed that the suspect, a resident of Gurunagar in Jaffna, was shot at and injured in retaliatory fire by Maheswaran's security personnel and is under police custody, adds Colombo Page. Read less...

On January 2 (today), four persons were killed and over 20 injured in a powerful bomb blast in Colombo. The Defence Ministry said the blast which occurred at about 9:30am opposite the Nippon Hotel, targeted an army bus carrying soldiers. Read less...

The Sri Lanka government on January 2 decided to withdraw from the Cease-fire Agreement (CFA) with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), reports Colombo Page. At the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake proposed to annul the CFA, signed in February 22, 2002, between then United National Front government and the LTTE, government spokesperson Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. "All the Cabinet Ministers agreed for that and the Premier was tasked to inform the matter to the Norwegian facilitators soon," he said. The motion has been moved since there was no point in continuing with the CFA as the LTTE has committed a large number of cease-fire violations, the Minister added, according to Daily News. "The Government decided to officially withdraw from the Ceasefire Agreement since it is futile to continue with the Ceasefire with no indication that LTTE is willing to enter the peace path," the Minister said, adding further, "The Ceasefire has been violated by the LTTE more than 10,000 times. The Cabinet decision will be put into practice by using the terms and conditions of the Ceasefire Agreement itself." Read less...

the death toll in the LTTE claymore attack at Slave Island in Colombo on January 2 has risen to five on January 4 with the death of the Second Lieutenant D.M.S.K. Dissanayake of Sri Lanka National Guard who was among the critically injured persons. Read less...

Suspected militants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) killed Sri Lankan non-Cabinet Minister for Nation Building, D.M. Dissanayake, in a claymore mine blast near Rukmani Devi junction at Ja-ela on January 8 while he was proceeding towards Colombo to attend Parliament, reports Daily News. A personal bodyguard of the Minister, identified as K.P. Rathnayaka, also succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. According to the Police, 13 people, including seven civilians, were injured in the incident. Read less...

The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) chief, Air Marshal Roshan Goonetilleke, narrowly escaped being caught in a bomb blast in Colombo, reported Hindustan Times. The SLAF commander had passed by the site of the blast in the Fort area of central Colombo, just three minutes before a parcel bomb placed in a roadside public telephone booth went off, the media on January 9 quoted military officials as saying. Fitted with a timer, the bomb caused some minor damage to a building nearby. However, no casualties were reported. Read less...

One person was injured when an unattended parcel on a platform inside the Fort Railway Station in Colombo exploded on January 11-evening. Read less...

The Japanese peace envoy Yasushi Akashi arrived in Colombo on January 13 to hold talks with the government and to assess the impact of the decision of the government to withdraw from the 2002 Cease-Fire Agreement, reports The Hindu. Read less...

Naval troops on foot patrol recovered 8.75-kilograms of lethal C-4 explosives along with two hand grenades near the Kali Amman Kovil (Temple) in the Modera area of Colombo district, reports Daily News. Two parcels of 10 C-4 explosive slabs, with each parcel having five 500-gm slabs of C-4 explosives and another parcel of C-4 explosives with steel balls weighing 3.75- kilograms were recovered following civilian information. Read less...

Troops on a search operation in the Wattala area of Colombo district recovered one micro pistol, two magazines with eight live rounds and two hand grenades. The items had been hidden in an abandoned house at Weliamuna junction on the Alakanda – Wattala road. Read less...

The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has promised to hand over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief Velupillai Prabhakaran to India to face trial in the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case if he is captured, according to agencies. In the event of Prabhakaran getting caught, he would be tried for offences in the island country and then handed over to India for trial over the killing of Rajiv Gandhi, he said during an interaction with foreign correspondents in Colombo on January 23. Read less...

Police detected and chased four suspected persons, including a woman, on two motor bikes, in the middle of the Japan Lanka Friendship road at Thalangama Police Station in the Colombo district on January 25, according to SLA. Police later recovered a package with two Kiwi polish tins and a gum bottle filled with 175 grams of C-4 explosives along with eight inch wire cord detonator cord left behind by the suspected persons. Read less...

In Colombo, police recovered two suicide jackets hidden in the Aduruppu Street in the Grandpass area on January 26. Those suicide jackets were filled with high power C-4 explosives. Read less...

Police detected and chased four suspected persons, including a woman, on two motor bikes, in the middle of the Japan Lanka Friendship road at Thalangama Police Station in the Colombo district, according to SLA. Police later recovered a package with two Kiwi polish tins and a gum bottle filled with 175 grams of C-4 explosives along with eight inch wire cord detonator cord left behind by the suspected persons. Read less...