12 Civilians Killed by 'Fair Maiden of Death'

At last 12 people were killed and over 90 others injured, some seriously, when a LTTE female suicide bomber blew herself up on the 3rd platform of the Fort Railway Station at 2pm today. Six school boys, all from the D.S. Senanayake College (Colombo) baseball team and their coach were among those killed.

The suicide bomber was a young woman, light skinned and very attractive. She had disembarked from a train plying from Matara to Vavuniya. Since it is impossible to stop and check trains like buses, the Security Forces and the Police, who are on Red Alert ahead of tomorrow's 60th Independence Day Celebrations, had put in place a special security arrangement at the Fort Railway Station to check all passengers disembarking from trains.

Some eye witness accounts claimed the woman had moved towards an exit, but then turned back and was heading towards the stairway on Platform 3 when the explosion occurred. Seasoned military analysts investigating the case told us that it was unlikely for her to have targeted civilians, when she could have caused more damage by blowing herself up inside any of the carriages packed with people, like the one in which she had arrive to Fort from Matara.

It is uncharacteristic for the LTTE to use individual suicide bombers like this to hit civilian targets, unless they become victims of collateral damage during an attack on a military, political or economic target. Suspicions are that the bomber got agitated by the checking or that the suicide jacket short-circuited. Another bomb, possibly a hand grenade exploded inside the Dehiwala Zoo today. This is not considered the work of the LTTE.

Meanwhile some high level security arrangements are in place in Colombo as of tonight (nothing to do with blast), in anticipation of a possible LTTE plan to upset tomorrow's celebrations. The Woman may have been part of a much larger scheme.

Did LTTE Do a Repeat of Navally, in Madhu?

Serious doubts have been cast on the alleged SLA attack against Tamil civilians at Thachanamarandamadu recently. The LTTE alleged the attack was launched by a 'DUP' Unit and initial reports indicated the dead were school children. However, in a startling series of revelations, all that could now change.

Under the leadership of a senior officer in Mannar heading the 58 Division, the SLA has been systematically monitoring and recording all LTTE radio communications. According to one such communication, the Tigers in Mannar had communicated with another base that the dead children were part of a group forcibly conscripted, who were being transported to the frontlines to defend against marauding SLA units. According to this message, the children were not killed in a Claymore attack. The communication has been presented to senior military officers to be presented to the public.

A similar controversy arose over the death of 125 Tamils at the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Navalli in Jaffna in July 1995. A British MI6 officer named Glen Jenvy who infiltrated an LTTE front organization in London later claimed he saw documents indicating the entire incident was engineered by the Tigers. At this point, DefenceWire can confirm that only one Special Forces Team was active in Mannar that day. This team launched an attack at an identified LTTE vehicle at Periyamadu. At least one LTTE local leader is believed to have died in the attack. This team was not an LRRP team and were operating in the immediate battlefield.

The other suspicion is how a Tamil school was operating inside a battlefield when the SLA is less than 3.5km from Madu Church. The 58 and 57 Divisions have encircled the Madu area and the Avenues of Approaches of the two Divisions are expected to link-up very soon. Almost all civilians have fled the area. On Friday, nine civilians, including seven LTTE Civilian Force (Makkal Padai) surrendered to the Police at Murungkan. The oldest among the surrendered Makkal Padai members was a 61 years old man who had been forced into 'active duty'.

Meanwhile Military Intelligence claim the supposedly special security arrangements made ahead of the Independence Day in Colombo, following the 'discovery' of suicide jackets at Kalpitiya and Colombo City has led the country stray and unprepared for LTTE attacks in areas like Dambulla for example. It is not customary for LTTE to leave suicide jackets out in the open for everyone to find, specially if they were brought for a particular purpose. Transporting such kits to the south and then abandoning them seems a waste, unless of course its a decoy.

Whatever the case maybe the indications are that more civilian deaths are imminent in Sinhala dominated areas in the coming weeks. The Police is also taking steps to recall all civil defence committees and issue volunteers an identity card. We would also like to caution against any violent reactions against Tamils during this crucial period.

On a different note, the Sri Lanka Army's newly formed Mechanized Infantry Regiment is to become the newest addition at Monday's grant March Past marking the 60th Independence Day Celebrations. The Regiment made an ominous start on the 30th of last month when it advanced 200-300 meters into LTTE-held areas in the Northern FDL, destroying 10 LTTE fortifications along the way. The Tigers will be watching this Regiment very closely in the coming weeks.