The First Tamil Suicide Bombing

Witness History

BBC

History, Society & Culture, Personal Journals

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2017

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In July 1987 separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka attacked an army camp. It was the first of hundreds of suicide attacks carried by the group known as the "Black Tigers" against both military and civilian targets during the country's long running civil war. Farhana Haider hears from a former Tamil resident of Sri Lanka and from one of the only filmmakers to have spent any time with the Black Tigers.

Photo: Captain Miller shrine at Nelliady, Jaffna, Sri Lanka on Black Tigers Day, 2004. Credit: Public Domain

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC
0:35.4	Sounds.
0:36.4	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:40.9	My name's Linda Davies and I commissioned
0:43.0	podcast for BBC Sounds.
0:45.0	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality,
0:49.0	featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:54.4	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
1:00.9	poltergeist, cricket and conspiracy theories, and that's just a few examples.
1:06.4	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over
1:11.1	at BBC Sounds.
1:12.1	Hello and thank you for downloading witness with me for Hana Hither, history as told by the people who were there.
1:18.0	And today we go back to July 1987 when Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka used suicide attacks on the army for the first time.
1:27.0	The Black Tigers, as they were known, would go on to carry out hundreds more suicide
1:37.3	attacks against both military and civilian targets.
1:50.0	I've been speaking to Ilonka Civaraja Pile, who lived in Jaffna in Northern Sri Lanka, not far from that first suicide attack by Tamil Tiger rebels or the LTT.
1:55.0	She was just 18 years old at the time.
	...

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