OF BANGALORE Just two days after the duly commemorated seventeenth anniversary of the first suicide bombing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam [LTTE, groupe séparatiste tamoul], the deadly explosion of July 7 in Colombo, which caused five deaths and twelve serious injuries, seems to bear the signature of the movement. The damage caused is relatively minor – the Tigers have accustomed us to worse destruction – but the consequences for the ceasefire in force since February 2002 could be devastating if the government does not operate with infinite caution. Of course the LTTE immediately denied any responsibility for the suicide bombing, and S.P. Tamilchelvan, the head of his political wing, called the attack “an act aimed at destabilizing the peace process and perpetrated by elements seeking precisely to sabotage the return to normalcy in the country”.
Very well organized suicide bombers
The peace process, which has stalled for more than a year, has many enemies. However, few are those who are sensitive to the arguments put forward by the LTTE. Indeed, the Tigers have claimed responsibility for nearly 240 suicide attacks, in addition to spectacular operations, such as the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, which they still deny having organized despite overwhelming evidence. Their suicide squad is also a real elite unit, nicknamed Karum Puligal, that is to say Black Tigers. The identity of its members is carefully kept secret and it is necessary to wait for a Black Tiger to reach the status of “martyr” during a mission claimed by the LTTE to have his name revealed. Left