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LTTE WOMAN SUICIDE BOMBER EXPLODES HERSELF IN KOLLUPITIYA POLICE KILLING HERSELF AND FOUR POLICEMEN

Buddhist monks, looks at the debris of the police station where a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber detonated explosives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, July 7, 2004
(photo by: Eranga Jayawardena)

By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles

July 08, 05.15 AM: A suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide bomber detonated herself inside one of the biggest Police stations in the capital city of Colombo at Kollupitiya at least killing four police officers and herself and injuring scores of other police officers and civilians.

The suspected woman cadre of the LTTE, whom some have identified as Jayarani from Jaffna was trying to enter, a government Ministry, in which Douglas Devananda, a rival Tamil minister of the LTTE runs his office. Security officers prevented her from entering the Ministry building when she reportedly refused to undergo a physical security check . The police who suspected took her to the adjacent Kollupitiya Police station to be questioned and examined where she detonated herself making severe damages to the concrete building of the police station and killing many police officers.

Douglas Devananda later told a London broadcasting station that this was not the first time that Velupillai Prabhakaran led LTTE attempted to assassinate him and Prabhakaran does understand only one language and one language alone.

The LTTE who signed a Norway mediated Peace agreement with the former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of Sri Lanka, nevertheless did not completely give up violence and many times before indeed attempted to kill Douglas Devananda, who is also the leader of the Tamil political Party, the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP). The LTTE, a fascist outfit that believes they are the sole representatives of the Tamil people attempts to eliminate all rival Tamil politicians from the face of the earth. The LTTE runs the world’s biggest squad of suicide bombers and held its 17th anniversary celebrations of its first suicide explosion in the year 1987 at many places in the country’s Northern and Eastern Provinces. Ironically, in fear of a renegade leader who broke away from them they sought Sri Lanka Police protection at the Black Tiger day they held just two days before the suicide explosion in the Police. The Trincomalee Police provided tight security for the event.

Ever since the peace accord was signed in 2002 and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe removed all security barriers to the capital city, intelligence reports said, hundreds of LTTE suicide bombers came and settled down in Colombo, in the event of a new attack against the government or against its political rivals. During the reign of the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, only months ago, a LTTE cadre walked into a Police station close to Kollupitiya at Dehiwala and killed the head of the intelligence unit of the police station who was collecting data about the LTTE activities.

But UNP spokesman Ravindra Randeniya said this kind of things happen because the present government did not look after the peace process initiated by them properly. He did not condemn the suicide bomb explosion.

The blast at Kollupitiya caused the deaths of the explosive wrapped woman suicide bomber and four police officers including an Inspector of the Police station E.M. Ekanayaka instantly.. The other officers who died have been now identified as Sergeant Attygalle and Police constables Lyanage and Ajith all attached to the Kollupitiya Police. Nine critically injured people, among whom were police officers and civilians were admitted to the Accident Service of the National Hospital of Colombo. Four others had only minor injuries, hospital sources said.. This is the first time the LTTE allegedly used one of its suicide bombers after October 2001 since it sent a suicide bomber in an attempt to kill the then Prime minister, Rathnasiri Wickramanayaka, that failed to get its target.

The LTTE has used 241 suicide bombers for the last 17 years and the rebel peace negotiator, Anton Balasingham has publicly refused to disband the squad of walking bombs, known as Black Tigers. Just two days ago the LTTE praised the suicide bombers as the best weapons in their hands at the ceremonies of the Black Tiger day.

( go2lanka.com)