A female LTTE suicide bomber killed 12 civilians, including eight schoolchildren, at Colombo's busiest railway station during morning rush hour.
Key Facts
- Date
- February 3, 2008
- Civilians killed
- 12
- Injured
- More than 100
- Schoolchildren killed
- 8 (D.S. Senanayake College baseball team)
- Perpetrator group
- LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)
- Attack location
- Platform 3, Fort Railway Station, Colombo
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were engaged in a prolonged armed conflict with the Sri Lankan government. The attack occurred during an active phase of the civil war, with the LTTE employing suicide bombings as a tactical weapon against civilian and strategic targets to advance their separatist campaign.
On February 3, 2008, a female LTTE suicide bomber detonated explosives on Platform 3 of Fort Railway Station in Colombo during morning rush hour, targeting a stopped commuter train. The blast killed 12 civilians, among them eight schoolchildren from D.S. Senanayake College's baseball team and their coach, and injured over 100 others.
Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered the Criminal Investigation Department to investigate the attack. Two suspects were subsequently arrested, explosives were seized in Colombo, and a clandestine LTTE cell operating through a small business was uncovered. The cell leader had fled Sri Lanka before the arrests could be made.