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Blast shows change in LTTE tactics

COLOMBO: The military on Wednesday claimed on the basis of initial investigations that the physically challenged woman who blew herself up inside the office of Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda had hidden the explosive device in the upper portion of her clothing.

“Initial investigations into the incident show that LTTE had set the explosives around the woman’s breast, deviating from their usual tactic of placing explosive in the lower abdominal areas of ‘suicide’ girls,” said the Ministry.

Mr. Devananda, who heads the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), has been in the LTTE’s assassination list ever since he came into the mainstream politics.

“Minister Douglas who had once fought against Sri Lankan government shoulder to shoulder with LTTE chief Prabakaran later resorted to the democratic stream of politics renouncing the gruesome crimes committed by the LTTE. So far, LTTE has made eight attempts on Minister Devananda’s life,” said the Defence Ministry.

The Ministry alleged that “led by its psychopathic leader” V. Prabakaran, the outfit has carried out many terrorists attacks on civilian targets.

“Using young Tamil women as suicide bombers has been one of the most favoured terror tactics of the so-called liberator chief of the Tamils. Yesterday, in his annual threatening speech against Sri Lankan people , terror chief V. Prabakaran demanded 80 million Tamil people around the world to support him to create his utopian state at the expense of 19 million people in Sri Lanka,” said the Ministry.

A Public Relations Officer (PRO) and a personal security body guard of the Minister and a police sub-inspector attached to Ministerial Security Division suffered serious injuries as the woman blew herself up on questioning. The condition of the other two victims is stated to be stable.

Separately, the Ministry disputed the LTTE version on Tuesday that 13 persons were killed in a landmine explosion caused by the military in the Tiger dominated Wanni region. The Ministry quoting “civilian sources in Wanni” claimed that the blast had taken pace in the Kokkavil area which is well over 50 km from the last security forces’ check point at Omanthai, Vavuniya. It alleged that the LTTE had ordered all the government schools closed on Tuesday and the schoolchildren to participate in the “Suicide Bombers day” celebrations in the region.

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