Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Sri Lanka Car Bombings

The Colombo central bus stationbombing was the car bombing of the central bus terminal ofColombo carried out on April 21, 1987 in Pettah, Colombo, Sri Lanka.The 80-pound (36 kg) bomb killed 113 people and left a 10-foot (3 m)crater in the ground.

The 2008 Sri Lanka roadside bombingswere two separate roadside bombings that killed 32 people and injured62 others on January 16, 2008. The first roadside bomb was aimedtowards a civilian bus, with gunmen shooting at fleeing survivors andthen retreating into the bush, killing farmers who encountered them.The second roadside bomb was aimed towards a military vehicle,injuring three soldiers. The Sri Lankan Government has blamed theLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the attacks.

The Fort railway station bombingwas a suicide bombing of a commuter train while it was stopped at theFort railway station, the main station in Colombo, Sri Lanka, onFebruary 3, 2008. The bombing killed 12 civilians and injured morethan 100. Killed in the attack were eight school children of D. S.Senanayake College's baseball team and their coach/teacher-in-charge.

The government said that the attack wascarried out by a female suicide bomber, belonging to LTTE, who gotdown from a train and exploded during rush hour on Platform 3.

Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksadirected the Criminal Investigation Department to investigate thebombing which led to the arrest of two suspects alongside explosiveshidden in Colombo and the discovery of small business premises run bya LTTE cell. The cell leader had left the country after the bombing.

The Madhu School bus bombingalso known as Thadchanamadhu claymore attack was the bombing of aschool bus carried out on January 29, 2008 in rebel LTTE controlledarea in Thadchanamadhu in Mannar, Northern province of Sri Lanka. Thebombing killed 17 Tamils, including 11 school children, and injuredat least 14 more people. The LTTE and NESHOR accused the Sri LankanArmy 's deep penetration unit for the attack but the Army deniedthe allegations. This attack was the second attack on a civilian busin the month of January in Sri Lanka

Background

On January 02 2008, the government ofSri Lanka officially pulled out of the cease fire signed in 2002.Thearea lies near the border between Sri Lankan Army and rebel LTTEcontrolled areas and around 22 claymore attacks had taken placeearlier killing 62 people. Students were returning from MannarSinapandivirichchan Government Tamil Mixed School travel through thisroute daily.

Incident

On 29 January 2008 a bus carryingcivilians was hit by a claymore mine that resulted in the death of 17civilians including 11 school children and injuring 14 more people.This incident took place in the town of Mannar about 1 km from theMadhu Church which is a LTTE rebel controlled area. Tamilnetreported that the civilian bus was hit by a claymore that wastriggered by Sri Lankan Army's deep penetration unit. It furtherclaimed that the victims were students and teachers returning from asporting event. The Sri Lankan Army denied any responsibility andclaimed that there was no military unit operating in the area at thattime.