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List of non-state terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka

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The following are notable (non-state) terrorist incidents that have occurred in Sri Lanka. The list is in chronological order and does not include attacks against military bases or military personnel, who were engaged in duty during the Sri Lankan Civil War and JVP insurrections.

A number of terrorists attacks have occurred in Sri Lanka, especially during the periods of the Sri Lankan Civil War and the second JVP insurrection. Sri Lanka has experienced some of the worst terrorist attacks that have occurred worldwide, with 100 or more fatalities over the last 100 years.[1][2]

Incidents by decade

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1970s

[edit]
Date Attack Location Deaths Perpetrators Notes
27 July 1975 Assassination of Alfred Duraiappah Jaffna, Jaffna District 1 LTTE Mayor of Jaffna Alfred Duraiappah is shot to death by LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, in the first major attack by the group.[3]
14 February 1977 Shooting of PC Karunandhi Maviddapuram, Jaffna District 1 LTTE Police Constable A. Karunandhi is shot to death for investigating crimes committed by the LTTE. This attack would be one of the events leading to the 1977 anti-Tamil pogrom.[4][5]
7 April 1978 Murunkan massacre Murunkan, Mannar District 4 LTTE A team of four CID officers: Bastianpillai, Perampalan, Police Sergeant Balasingham and Police ConstableSriwardene, were massacred by Uma Maheswaran and other LTTE members.[6][7]

1980s

[edit]
Date Attack Location Deaths Perpetrators Notes
30 November 1984 Kent and Dollar Farm massacres Kent and Dollar Farms, Vavuniya District 62 LTTE LTTE cadres shoot 62 Sinhalese villagers dead and injured several others.[8]
1 December 1984 1984 Kokkilai massacre Kokkilai, Mullaitivu District 11 LTTE LTTE cadres kill eleven Sinhalese civilians.[9]
31 December 1984 Batticaloa massacre Batticaloa, Batticaloa District 4 LTTE LTTE members kill 4 Tamil civilians and dump them outside Batticaloa for refusing to join the group.[10]
19 January 1985 Yal Devi attack Murikandy, Mullaitivu District 34 LTTE / TELO[a] LTTE[a] bombed the northern railway line at Murikandy, killing 34 people and completely destroying the tracks.[15]
14 May 1985 Anuradhapura massacre Anuradhapura, Anuradhapura District 146 LTTE LTTE cadres invaded Anuradhapura town and opened fire indiscriminately with automatic weapons killing and wounding many civilians. Then they drove to the sacred Buddhist shrine Sri Maha Bodhi and gunned down nuns, monks and civilians who were worshiping there.[16][17][18]
3 May 1986 Air Lanka Flight 512 Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake 21 LTTE Air Lanka Flight 512 which had arrived at Bandaranaike International Airport from London Gatwick Airport was about to fly on to the Maldives Islands. A bomb which was planted by Tamil Tigers exploded and ripped the aircraft in two. It carried mainly European and Japanese tourists.[19][20]
7 May 1986 Central Telegraph Office bombing Central Telegraph Office, Colombo 14 JVP JVP claimed responsibility for its first attack since 1970.[21] The attack killed 14 civilians and wounded 164 more civilians.
17 April 1987 Aluth Oya massacre Aluth Oya, North Central Province 127 LTTE 127 Sinhalese civilians who were separated from the other passengers from three buses were gunned down by LTTE.[22][unreliable source?]
21 April 1987 Colombo central bus station bombing Central Bus Stand, Pettah 113 LTTE LTTE exploded a bomb at the central bus terminal of Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. The bombing killed 113 civilians.[23][unreliable source?]
2 June 1987 Aranthalawa Massacre Aranthalawa, Ampara District 35 LTTE LTTE cadres mutilated and killed 33 young Buddhist monks and their mentor, Ven. Hegoda Sri Indrasara Thera, who was the chief priest of Vidyananda Pirivena, Ampara.[24][unreliable source?]
18 August 1987 1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament Parliament of Sri Lanka, Sri Jayawardenepura 2 JVP A JVP communist assailant hurled 2 grenades into a room where government MPs were meeting, with the then Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayawardene and Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa. A Member of Parliament and a Ministry secretary were killed by the explosions.[25]
16 February 1988 Kathiresan Hindu temple attack Kathiresan Hindu temple, Bambalapitiya, Colombo 10 JVP At least 10 people died and 26 others were injured when two bombs blasted in a crowded Hindu temple during a religious festival.[26]
13 December 1988 Attack on the Magazine prison
(Welikada jail break)
Magazine Prison, Welikada, Colombo Unknown JVP Armed cadres of JVP attacked the Magazine Prison, a maximum security prison and also the largest prison in Sri Lanka. 170 suspected JVP cadres managed to escape from the prison by this attack.[27][28]
8 February 1989 1989 Temple of the Tooth attack Temple of the Tooth, Kandy 5 JVP Armed cadres of JVP attacked, Sri Dalada Maligawa, one of the holiest Buddhist shrines in Sri Lanka, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[29]
July 1989 Kataragama temple Esala procession bombing Kataragama temple, Kataragama 15 JVP Cadres of JVP attacked the annual Esala Procession of the Kataragama temple.[30] This grenade attack killed about 15 and many more were wounded.[31]

1990s

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Date Attack Location Deaths Perpetrators Notes
11 June 1990 1990 massacre of Sri Lankan Police officers Eastern Province 600–774 LTTE LTTE cadres killed over 600 policeman who surrendered to them in Eastern Province of the country.[32][33]
3 August 1990 Kattankudy mosque massacre Kattankudy, Batticaloa District 147 LTTE LTTE cadres killed of over 147 Muslim men and boys in a mosque in Kattankudy.[18][34] Around 30 Tamil Tigers raided four mosques in the town of Kattankudy, where over 300 people were prostrating in Isha prayers.
2 March 1991 Havelock Road bombing Havelock Road, Colombo 19 LTTE At least 19 people, including Sri Lankan Deputy Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne were killed in an LTTE car bomb explosion. A further 73 people were injured.[35]
29 April 1992 Polonnaruwa massacre Polonnaruwa District 157 LTTE A series of massacres occur in several towns. The LTTE, Home Guards and Sri Lankan Police were blamed for the massacres.
15 October 1992 Palliyagodella massacre Palliyagodella, Polonnaruwa District 172 LTTE A large group of about 200–300 LTTE members attacked Muslim villages and killed 172 civilians (171 of which were Muslims), while 83 others were injured.[36][37]
16 November 1992 Assassination of Clancy Fernando Colombo 5 LTTE Head of the Sri Lankan Navy Clancy Fernando is killed in a suicide bombing along with Lieutenant commander Sandun Gunasekera, his Flag Lieutenant and his driver.
1 May 1993 Assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa Armour Street, Colombo 23 LTTE LTTE suicide bomber assassinated Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa while he was participating in a May Day rally. 22 others were also killed in the blast.[38][39]
24 October 1994 Assassination of Gamini Dissanayake Thotalanga, Grandpass, Colombo 52 LTTE Opposition leader and UNP presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake and UNP MPs Ossie Abeygunasekera, Weerasinghe Mallimarachchi and G. M. Premachandra are assassinated after a female LTTE member blew herself up with a powerful bomb. Over 50 were killed in the attack.[40][41]
25 May 1995 Kallarawa massacre Kallarawa, Trincomalee District 42 LTTE LTTE cadres massacred 42 men, women and children in Kallarawa, a small fishing village located 35 km away from Trincomalee. Victims were mainly Sinhalese and belonged to the fishing community.[42][43]
October 1995 October 1995 Eastern Sri Lanka massacres Eastern Province 120 LTTE The LTTE massacred 120 Sinhalese civilians across the Eastern Province of the country.[44]
20 October 1995 Attack of oil storage complexes in Kolonnawa and Orugodawatta Kolonnawa, Colombo 26 LTTE Suicide cadres of the LTTE attacked the oil storage complexes at Kolonnawa and Orugodawatta. They managed to blew themselves up destroying the tanks. 22 security personnel died by this attack and petroleum oil worth over US $10 million were destroyed.[45]
31 January 1996 Colombo Central Bank bombing Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Colombo 91 LTTE A truck containing about 440 pounds of high explosives crashed through the main gate of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The blast killed at least 91 people and injured 1,400 others.[46][47]
24 July 1996 1996 Dehiwala train bombing Dehiwala, Colombo 64 LTTE A train bombing resulted in 64 civilian deaths and wounding 400 others. The attack was carried out by LTTE operatives who placed suitcase bombs in four carriages on a commuter train. It was the first time to use the technique of simultaneously exploding multiple bombs in trains.[48][49]
15 October 1997 1997 Colombo World Trade Centre bombing Colombo World Trade Centre, Colombo 15–17 LTTE The LTTE drove a container truck laden with explosives into the car park of Galadari Hotel in Colombo. Then they attacked the Colombo World Trade Centre, twin 39-story towers, situated in close proximity to the hotel. The attack killed 15 people and 105 were wounded including many British tourists.[50][51]
25 January 1998 1998 Temple of the Tooth attack Temple of the Tooth, Kandy 17 LTTE the LTTE exploded a massive truck bomb inside the Temple of the Tooth premises, which was to be the centre of the independence day celebrations.[52] This was the 2nd terrorist attack on the temple.
29 September 1998 Lionair Flight 602 Off the coast of the Mannar District 55 LTTE A passenger aircraft Lionair Flight 602 disappeared from radar screens, after departing Kankesanturai Airport in Jaffna. Initial reports indicated that the plane had been shot down by LTTE cadres using MANPADS. All 7 crew members and 48 passengers were killed.[53][54]
18 September 1999 Gonagala massacre Kalpengala and Bedirekka, Ampara District 58–61 LTTE The LTTE killed 61 Sinhalese people, when they attacked three villages in Gonagala Ampara District. Among the dead were 17 women and seven children. Swords and machetes were used to chop and hack the victims to death, who were dragged from sleep.[36][55][56]
18 December 1999 Attempted assassination of Chandrika Kumaratunga Colombo Town Hall, Colombo 36 LTTE Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber during an election rally at the Colombo Town Hall. The president lost one of her eyes by this attack, while 36 others died and many others were injured.[57][58]

2000s

[edit]
Date Attack Location Deaths Perpetrators Notes
24 July 2001 Bandaranaike Airport attack Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake 21 LTTE LTTE attacked the, Bandaranaike International Airport and destroyed three passenger Air Busses and 8 military air crafts. The Airport was closed for 14 hours during and after the attack. The cost of replacing the civilian aircraft was estimated at $350 million USD.[59][60][61]
23 April 2006 Gomarankadawala massacre Gomarankadawala, Trincomalee District 6 LTTE Six villagers are shot to death by LTTE cadres.
15 June 2006 Kebithigollewa massacre Kebithigollewa, Anuradhapura District 68 LTTE 68 civilians were killed when a civilian bus was attacked by LTTE using two claymore mines. Among the dead were a Buddhist monk, several pregnant women and 15 schoolchildren.[62][63]
14 August 2006 Attack on Pakistani ambassador to Sri Lanka Kollupitiya, Colombo District 7 LTTE A convoy carrying the Pakistani High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Bashir Wali Mohamed, was attacked by a claymore mine concealed within an auto rickshaw. The High Commissioner escaped unhurt, but seven people were killed and a further 17 were injured in the blast.[64]
16 October 2006 2006 Digampathaha bombing Digampathaha, Matale District 103 LTTE The 2006 Digampathana truck bombing, also known as Habarana massacre, was a suicide truck bombing carried out by the LTTE against a convoy of 15 military buses at Digampathana in Sri Lanka. The buses were carrying more than 200 sailors from Trincomalee who were going on leave. The bombing killed 103 and wounded more than 150 people.[65]
28 November 2007 Nugegoda shopping mall bombing Nugegoda, Colombo District 17 LTTE At least 17 people were killed and another 33 seriously injured when a LTTE parcel bomb went off in a leading clothes shop in Nugegoda town.[66][67]
16 January 2008 2008 Sri Lanka roadside bombings Buttala, Monaragala District 32 LTTE A LTTE bomb attack to a bus in Buttala killed 32 people including school children and wounded 62 others.[68]
2 February 2008 Dambulla bus bombing Dambulla, Matale District 18 LTTE A pilgrimage ended in bloodshed, after LTTE members exploded a private bus killing 18 devotees including women and children, in Dambulla.[69]
23 February 2008 Fort railway station bombing Fort Railway Station, Colombo 12 LTTE A suicide bombing of a commuter train while it was stopped at the Fort Railway Station, Colombo, killed 11 and injured 92.[70][71] Killed in the attack were eight school children of D. S. Senanayake College's baseball team and their coach.
6 April 2008 2008 Weliveriya bombing Weliveriya 15 LTTE 15 people are killed by an alleged suicide bomber, who exploded himself at the start of a marathon race which was part of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebration in Weliweriya town.[72] Sri Lanka's national athletics coach Lakshman de Alwis, politician Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, former Olympics runner K.A. Karunaratne and army officer Lt Colonel Udayadeera were killed in the bombing which wounded 90 others.[73][74][75] The Sri Lankan Government blamed the LTTE for the attack.
25 April 2008 2008 Piliyandala bus bombing Piliyandala, Colombo District 26 LTTE A bombing by Tamil Tigers of a commuter bus carried out in Piliyandala, a suburb of Colombo. The bombing killed 26 and injured at least 64.[76]
26 May 2008 2008 Dehiwala train bombing Dehiwala, Colombo District 8 LTTE Another bombing of a commuter train, running from Colombo to Panadura on May 26, 2008, in Dehiwala, Sri Lanka, killed 8 people and injured around 80.[77][78]
6 June 2008 2008 Moratuwa bus bombing Moratuwa, Colombo District 21 LTTE A roadside bomb blast targeted a crowded state-run commuter bus at about 7:35 AM. The government quickly placed blame upon the LTTE.[79]
2008 Polgolla bus bombing Polgolla, Kandy District 2 LTTE The Sri Lankan government blamed LTTE militants for a bomb explosion that occurred aboard a commuter bus, only a few hours after the attack in Moratuwa.[79]
16 June 2008 2008 Sri Lanka Vavuniya bombing Vavuniya, Vavuniya District 12 LTTE Explosives in a motorcycle detonated in front of a police station in Vavuniya, killing 12 police officers and injuring 40, including children.[80]
10 March 2009 Akuressa suicide bombing Akuressa, Matara District 14 LTTE A LTTE suicide bomber caused an explosion at an Islamic religious parade near Godapitiya Jumma mosque in Akuressa, Southern Sri Lanka, killing 14 and injuring 35 civilians. Several government ministers were among the injured while few local politicians died from the attack.[81][82]

2010s

[edit]
Date Attack Location Deaths Perpetrators Notes
21 April 2019 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa 253 NTJ / ISIS[b] On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, a series of explosions occurred at three Christian churches and three hotels across Sri Lanka. Later that day, smaller explosions occurred at a housing complex and a motel, killing mainly police investigating the situation, raiding suspect locations. Several cities in Sri Lanka, including the commercial capital Colombo, were targeted. At least 310 people, including over 30 foreign nationals, were killed and more than 469 were wounded in the bombings.[84][85][86][87][88] The church bombings occurred during Easter masses in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo while the hotels targeted included the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury hotels in Colombo.[89][90][91]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Other sources blame the Yarl Devi attack on TELO.[11][12][13][14]
  2. ^ Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has later claimed the responsibility for these attacks.[83]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Map of worst terrorist attacks worldwide: 100 or more fatalities, Robert Johnston
  2. ^ Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World, Bruce Schneier, pg 240
  3. ^ "Welcome to UTHR, Sri Lanka". Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  4. ^ Sabaratnam, T. "Piraparaharan: Vol.1, Chap.14 The LTTE Comes into the Open". sangam.org/. sangam.org. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  5. ^ Pathak, Saroj (January 2005). War Or Peace in Sri Lanka. Popular Prakshan. ISBN 978-81-7991-199-0.
  6. ^ Dissanayaka, T.D.S.A. (2005). War Or Peace in Sri Lanka. Colombo: Popular Prakashana. ISBN 9788179911990. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  7. ^ Ferdinando, Shamindra. "Who could have shot Duraiappah at Varadaraja Perumal temple, Ponnalai?". The Island. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  8. ^ LTTE genocide at Kent and Dollar Farms, Daily News
  9. ^ Letter sent by the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the Centre for Human Rights, Government of Sri Lanka, 9 August 1994
  10. ^ "Rebels in Sri Lanka Shoot Four as 'Traitors'". New York Times. 1984-12-31.
  11. ^ Yatawara, Dhaneshi (8 March 2009). "A9 highway gears for non-stop run". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka).
  12. ^ Abeynayake, Stanley E. (7 December 2014). "Northern Railway service, some historical aspects". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka).
  13. ^ Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 32: Limbo between war and peace". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Archived from the original on 2002-10-01.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ Sri Kantha, Sachi. "Civil War Leader for Tamils". The Pirabhakaran Phenomenon.
  15. ^ Yal Devi readies for return to Jaffna, Ceylon Today
  16. ^ The LTTE attack on Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi marks 28 years, Hiru News
  17. ^ Parithy, one of Sri Maha Bodhi attackers, Sunday Observer
  18. ^ a b Major LTTE massacres and destruction, Daily News
  19. ^ "1986: Bomb kills 21 in Sri Lanka". BBC. 3 May 1986. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  20. ^ "Commercial Airline Bombing History". aerospaceweb.org. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  21. ^ Bombing in Sri Lanka kills 1 News York Times
  22. ^ Lest we forget the LTTE, The Island, K. Godage
  23. ^ LTTE Terrorist Attacks Selected Chronology (since 1987), Victor Gunasekara
  24. ^ Monument of Aranthalawa Massacre, Amazing Lanka
  25. ^ Bomb Attack on Parliament Archived 2015-06-28 at the Wayback Machine, Daily News
  26. ^ Bomb Attack on Hindu Temple, Tamil Times, February 1988
  27. ^ JVP fear psychosis – Part V:Magazine Prison attack, Daily News, Geoff Wijesinghe
  28. ^ Unmasking the real face of the JVP, Frederica Jansz, The Sunday Leader
  29. ^ JVP can’t deny they attacked the Dalada Maligawa using firearms — Diyawadana Nilame, The Island
  30. ^ Murugan-Shaitan Showdown, Patrick Harrigan interviews Swami Siva-Kalki, The Sunday Times, August 19, 1990
  31. ^ Collected Bodhi Leaves, page 183
  32. ^ The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka: Terrorism, Ethnicity, Political Economy, pg121, Asoka Bandarage
  33. ^ Ethnicity, Identity and the State in South Asia, pg 134, Kousar Jabeen Azam, International Academic Publishers, 2002
  34. ^ Kattankudy Muslims commemorate Tiger massacre in mosques, Sunday Observer
  35. ^ BBC News: "On This Day" March 2, 1991: Sri Lankan hardliner among 19 killed in blast
  36. ^ a b Revisiting Tamil Tiger massacres in Sri Lanka, Sunday Observer
  37. ^ List of Muslims massacred by Tiger Terrorists from March 6, 1988 to October 15, 1992, Daily News
  38. ^ "Suicide Bomber Kills President of Sri Lanka (Published 1993)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2023-04-09.
  39. ^ Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (aka Tamil Tigers) (Sri Lanka, separatists) Archived 2015-06-26 at the Wayback Machine, Council on Foreign Relations
  40. ^ Latest Killing of a Sri Lanka Politician Fits a Familiar Pattern, The New York Times
  41. ^ Gamini Dissanayake, the last of men Archived 2015-06-26 at the Wayback Machine, Ceylon Today
  42. ^ Trends in Outside Support for Insurgent Movements, Daniel Byman, Peter Chalk, Bruce Hoffman, William Rosenau, David Brannan, Pg 47, National Security Research Division (RAND)
  43. ^ Deliberate and arbitrary killings / Fear of further killings, Amnesty International
  44. ^ "1995 Human Rights Report: SRI LANKA". Archived from the original on 2005-03-20. Retrieved 2007-02-01.
  45. ^ The LTTE and suicide terrorism, Rohan Gunaratne, Frontline, Volume 17 – Issue 03, Feb. 2000
  46. ^ Timeline of the Tamil conflict, BBC NEWS
  47. ^ Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues, Gus Martin, SAGE, 2010
  48. ^ "Tamil Arrested in Sri Lanka Train Bombing". The New York Times. 1996-09-04.
  49. ^ "The Role of the International Community-Sri Lanka". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  50. ^ British tourists wounded in Tamil Tiger bomb blast, The Independent UK
  51. ^ 17 Die, 100 Wounded by Huge Bomb and Gunfire in Sri Lanka, The New York Times
  52. ^ Commonwealth Secretariat (2006). The Commonwealth Yearbook. Great Britain: Nexus Strategic Partnerships Ltd. p. 369. ISBN 978-095-4962-94-4.
  53. ^ Criminal Occurrence description, Aviation Safety Network
  54. ^ MH17 is not alone. Commercial flights that got shot down, Travel Tom-Travel advice, news and more
  55. ^ Tigers violate UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Government of Sri Lanka
  56. ^ Genocide and Mass Violence: Memory, Symptom, and Recovery, Devon E. Hinton, Alexander L. Hinton, pg 360
  57. ^ Sri Lankan President Kumaratunga narrowly escapes assassination by suicide bomber, WSWS.org
  58. ^ President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, GlobalSecurity.org
  59. ^ 'Operation Scapegoat' on Katunayake attack, The Sunday Leader, Frederica Jansz
  60. ^ Building an international airport, Sunday Times
  61. ^ Rebel Attack on Airport Shocks Leaders of Sri Lanka, New York Times
  62. ^ Kebithigollewa Massacre, Sangam.org
  63. ^ 64 civilians killed in LTTE claymore attack, Daily News
  64. ^ South Africa ready to pull out of tri-series, ESPN Cricinfo
  65. ^ 103 killed in Sri Lankan bomb attack, smh.com.au
  66. ^ Civilians targeted in Nugegoda bomb blast Archived 2013-04-02 at the Wayback Machine, Daily Mirror
  67. ^ Scores killed in Nugegoda blast, BBC
  68. ^ Terror in Uva Province: 28 Killed 65 Wounded , Tops.lk
  69. ^ LTTE kills 18 pilgrims in Dambulla bus explosion, Sunday Observer, 3 February 2008
  70. ^ Sri Lanka railway station suicide blast kills 11, Reuters.com
  71. ^ Suicide Bomb Hits Sri Lankan Rail Station, CBS News
  72. ^ Sri Lankan MP among 10 killed in blast, CNN
  73. ^ Suicide blast kills Sri Lankan minister, CNN
  74. ^ Jeryaraj killed in Gampaha blast
  75. ^ Colonel Udayadeera lays his life in the Suicide attack Archived 2008-04-11 at the Wayback Machine Ministry of Defence
  76. ^ Jayasinghe, Amal (April 26, 2008). "Sri Lanka fears more bombings as bus toll hits 26". France 24. Archived from the original on 2008-05-21. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  77. ^ "Sri Lanka commuters hurt by bomb". BBC News. 4 June 2008.
  78. ^ Bomb blast in Sri Lanka targets rail commuters
  79. ^ a b "2 bus bombs kill at least 23 in Sri Lankan capital". International Herald Tribune. 6 June 2008.
  80. ^ "Policemen die in Sri Lanka attack". BBC News. 16 June 2008.
  81. ^ Sri Lanka suicide bombing targets government ministers, The Guardian
  82. ^ Sri Lankan ministers targeted by Tamil Tiger suicide bomber, The Telegraph
  83. ^ ISIS Claims Responsibility for Sri Lanka Terrorist Attack, TIME, Billy Perrigo, April 23, 2019
  84. ^ "156 Dead In Blasts At Two Sri Lanka Churches During Easter Mass: Report". NDTV.com. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  85. ^ "Multiple explosions in Sri Lanka: Blasts during Easter Sunday service in Colombo". The National. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  86. ^ "Easter Day bombs kill 138 in attacks on Sri Lankan churches, hotels". Reuters. 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  87. ^ Pokharel, Sugam; McKirdy, Euan (21 April 2019). "Sri Lanka blasts: At least 138 dead and more than 400 injured in multiple church and hotel explosions". CNN. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  88. ^ "Sri Lanka Easter attack toll hits 290". AFP. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  89. ^ "Sri Lanka explosions: 137 killed as churches and hotels targeted". BBC News. 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  90. ^ "Multiple blasts hit Sri Lanka churches, hotels on Easter Sunday". aljazeera.com. Al Jazeera. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  91. ^ "Sri Lanka blasts: hundreds injured in church and hotel explosions". The Guardian. 21 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.