1998 Temple of the Tooth attack

1998 Temple of the Tooth attack
Damage caused to the Temple of the Tooth
LocationKandy, Sri Lanka
Coordinates7°17′38″N 80°38′19″E / 7.29389°N 80.63861°E / 7.29389; 80.63861
Date25 January 1998
6:10 am (UTC+6)
TargetTemple of the Tooth
Attack type
Suicide truck bombing
Deaths17
Injured25+
PerpetratorsLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
MotiveTo undermine preparations for the 50th independence day anniversary of Sri Lanka

The 1998 Temple of the Tooth attack was an attack on the Temple of the Tooth Relic, located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The shrine, which is considered to be important to the Buddhists in Sri Lanka, houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha, and is also a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site.[1][2] In 1998, it was attacked by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state in Northern and Eastern parts of the country, from 1983 to 2009.[3][4][5][6][7]

  1. ^ "World Heritage List: Sacred City of Kandy". UNESCO. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  2. ^ Penfield, Frederic Courtland (1907). East of Suez. California: Echo Library. pp. 41–43. ISBN 978-140-6894-27-1.
  3. ^ "Eleven die in Sri Lankan temple suicide bomb". BBC. 25 January 1998. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  4. ^ "Religious ceremonies to commemorate the LTTE attack on Temple of tooth in Sri Lanka". Colombo Page. Sri Lanka. 25 January 2009. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  5. ^ Nubin, Walter (2003). Sri Lanka: Current Issues and Historical Background. New York: Nova Publishers. p. 11. ISBN 978-159-0335-73-4.
  6. ^ Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2007). World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish. p. 553. ISBN 978-076-1476-31-3.
  7. ^ Rotberg, Robert I. (1999). Creating Peace in Sri Lanka: Civil War and Reconciliation. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution. p. 2. ISBN 978-081-5775-78-2.