So yesterday I got three e-mails from the embassy about a bomb threat at Liberty Plaza. Two to warn me and then the third to say that no bomb was found. I didn't honestly think they would find one because the tendency here is to actually avoid civilian targets.
At least that is what we've been told. The embassy is constantly warning U.S. citizens to avoid government offices, etc. Then today I got this notice:
WARDEN MESSAGE
THE EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES IS TRANSMITTING THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION THROUGH THE EMBASSY WARDEN SYSTEM AS A PUBLIC SERVICE TO AMERICAN CITIZENS IN SRI LANKA. PLEASE DISSEMINATE THIS MESSAGE TO ALL U.S. CITIZENS YOU KNOW, WHO ARE NOT REGISTERED WITH THE EMBASSY.
Warden Message - 29 November 2007
At approximately 5:55pm on November 28, 2007, a bomb exploded near a clothing store at Nugegoda junction, a busy suburb of Colombo, killing at least seventeen people and injuring more than thirty, all civilians. The attack was apparently carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Unlike other recent LTTE attacks against government and military targets, this incident appears to have directly targeted civilians. At this time, the Embassy has no information about possible future attacks against civilians. However, in light of this incident American citizens are advised to defer non-essential visits to crowded public places and high-profile public venues.
This is rather disturbing as this isn't all that far from here (thought not that close either, so don't freak out), but more importantly, as the e-mail says, this the first civilian target. You could go on with your day knowing that if you don't work for the government or the military the chances of something happening to you in Colombo were pretty slim. I think this is still true, but I don't like the precedent this establishes.
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