Major General Parami Kulatunga, the third most senior officer in the Sri Lanka Army and tipped for its leadership, was assassinated Monday on his way to work. A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle blew up the car in which Maj. Gen. Kulatunga was being driven, killing the officer and two bodyguards on the spot.
The Sri Lankan government blamed on the Liberation Tigers for the attack a few miles from Colombo in which a civilian and the bomber also died and said it was bringing back all the tough security measures in place before the February 2002 ceasefire.
Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said unspecified new measures were being taken to beef up the already tight security following the assassination, saying: “we are giving priority to combating terrorism.”
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned the suicide attack, and neighbouring India called on both sides in Sri Lanka to restart dialogue.
The suicide bomber struck as Maj. Gen. Kulatunga, a veteran commander and hardline Sinhala nationalist, was leaving home for his office.
Overtaking the escorting Army pickup travelling behind the General’s car, the bomber slipped between the two vehicles and triggered explosives close to the officer’s side of the white Peugeot 406.
The attack on Maj. Gen. Kulatunga, number 3 in the SLA hierarchy, comes two months after a suicide bomber badly wounded Army commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka and killed eleven of his bodyguards.
That attack, carried out by a female bomber pretending to be pregnant, took place outside a military hospital deep inside SLA headquarters in Colombo. The general survived but has yet to resume duties – this week he has been taken to Singapore for treatment.
Maj. Gen. Kulatunga was expected to be appointed to Maj. Gen. Fonseka''s post as he qualifies as most combat experienced after the wounded Army chief, unlike the present number 2, Maj. Gen. Nanda Mallawaarachchi (currently Chief of Staff) who is due to retire in August.
Described as a very close associate of the Maj. Gen. Fonseka and an officer who had performed a number of special duties including overseeing some of the duties of the Army Commander, Maj. Gen. Kulatunga had been warned he was a target.
Maj. Gen. Kulatunge had received military training in defense academies of several countries including Singapore, U.S, and Britain. He specialized in Intelligence Operations and Special Operations.
In as early as 1978 Maj.Gen.Kulatunga had voiced for strong military action to crush Tamil militancy. He had advocated extra-judicial measures against the civilian population and the supporters of the Tamil struggle after the capture of Jaffna, according to ex-militant sources in Jaffna.
TamilNet quoted sources in the SLA garrison town of Vavuniya, a major site of activity by Army-backed paramilitaries as saying Maj. Gen. Kulatunga was a key SLA figure in intensifying the collaboration between the SLA and Tamil paramilitary groups EPDP, EPRLF(v) and PLOTE, in LTTE-controlled Vanni and Mannar areas.
Soon after the incident, President Mahinda Rajapaksa summoned the Security Council at the President’s Office and the three-hour long meeting was attended by Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda, Air Force Commander Roshan Goonetilake, Police Chief Chandra Fernando, Army’s Chief of Staff Nanda Mallawarachchi and the Chief of Defence Staff Donald Perera.
The Sri Lankan government blamed on the Liberation Tigers for the attack a few miles from Colombo in which a civilian and the bomber also died and said it was bringing back all the tough security measures in place before the February 2002 ceasefire.
Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said unspecified new measures were being taken to beef up the already tight security following the assassination, saying: “we are giving priority to combating terrorism.”
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned the suicide attack, and neighbouring India called on both sides in Sri Lanka to restart dialogue.
The suicide bomber struck as Maj. Gen. Kulatunga, a veteran commander and hardline Sinhala nationalist, was leaving home for his office.
Overtaking the escorting Army pickup travelling behind the General’s car, the bomber slipped between the two vehicles and triggered explosives close to the officer’s side of the white Peugeot 406.
The attack on Maj. Gen. Kulatunga, number 3 in the SLA hierarchy, comes two months after a suicide bomber badly wounded Army commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka and killed eleven of his bodyguards.
That attack, carried out by a female bomber pretending to be pregnant, took place outside a military hospital deep inside SLA headquarters in Colombo. The general survived but has yet to resume duties – this week he has been taken to Singapore for treatment.
Maj. Gen. Kulatunga was expected to be appointed to Maj. Gen. Fonseka''s post as he qualifies as most combat experienced after the wounded Army chief, unlike the present number 2, Maj. Gen. Nanda Mallawaarachchi (currently Chief of Staff) who is due to retire in August.
Described as a very close associate of the Maj. Gen. Fonseka and an officer who had performed a number of special duties including overseeing some of the duties of the Army Commander, Maj. Gen. Kulatunga had been warned he was a target.
Maj. Gen. Kulatunge had received military training in defense academies of several countries including Singapore, U.S, and Britain. He specialized in Intelligence Operations and Special Operations.
In as early as 1978 Maj.Gen.Kulatunga had voiced for strong military action to crush Tamil militancy. He had advocated extra-judicial measures against the civilian population and the supporters of the Tamil struggle after the capture of Jaffna, according to ex-militant sources in Jaffna.
TamilNet quoted sources in the SLA garrison town of Vavuniya, a major site of activity by Army-backed paramilitaries as saying Maj. Gen. Kulatunga was a key SLA figure in intensifying the collaboration between the SLA and Tamil paramilitary groups EPDP, EPRLF(v) and PLOTE, in LTTE-controlled Vanni and Mannar areas.
Soon after the incident, President Mahinda Rajapaksa summoned the Security Council at the President’s Office and the three-hour long meeting was attended by Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda, Air Force Commander Roshan Goonetilake, Police Chief Chandra Fernando, Army’s Chief of Staff Nanda Mallawarachchi and the Chief of Defence Staff Donald Perera.
