Attack on Pakistani ambassador to Sri Lanka

Location of Sri Lanka
Flag of Sri Lanka
Wikinews has related news: Colombo land mine explosion kills seven

On August 14, 2006, a convoy carrying the Pakistani High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Bashir Wali Mohamed, was attacked by a claymore antipersonnel mine concealed within an auto rickshaw. The High Commissioner escaped unhurt, but seven people (including four Army commandoes) were killed and a further seventeen injured in the blast.[1]

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Sri Lankan government blamed the LTTE. High Commissioner Mohamed claimed that India had carried it out,[2] in order to intimidate Pakistan, which is one of the main suppliers of military equipment to the Sri Lankan government.[2] Pakistan had promised one shipload of the wherewithal every 10 days in coming months.

A Sri Lankan military spokesman said, "Definitely it's an LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] attack to the Pakistan ambassador's car but they missed and the backup vehicle got caught." The Pakistani ambassador may be a target of the LTTE because Pakistan is a major backer of the Sri Lankan government. [3]

Several LTTE suspects were arrested following the attack.[4]

Sources

  1. ↑ Rica Roy & Anisa Khan (August 14, 2006). "Lanka blast: Pak envoy safe, 7 killed". NDTV.
  2. 1 2 Sudha Ramachandran (September 22, 2006). "The Pakistani muscle behind Colombo". Asia Times.
  3. ↑ Simon Gardner (August 14, 2006). Dozens killed in Sri Lanka blast. Reuters.
  4. ↑ http://wwwupdate.un.org/ga/sixth/63/Prot_Dipl_TEXT/2007SriLanka.pdf
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, November 29, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.