Colombo Central Bank bombing

The Central Bank bombing was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks of the civil war in Sri Lanka between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The attack happened on January 31, 1996, in Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. A truck with about 440 pounds (200 kg) of high explosives crashed through the main gate of the Central Bank, a seaside building which managed most of the financial business of the country. As gunmen and security guards were shooting, the suicide bomber in the truck detonated the massive bomb, which badly damaged the bank and damaged eight other buildings nearby.

The explosion killed 90 people and injured 1,400 others. Most of these were ordinary citizens or civilians working in the small shops set up near the bank. This bombing was followed by one in July on a train that killed more than 70.

Until 2006, the Central Bank bombing was the deadliest LTTE terrorist bombing.