Sri Lanka - Political Instability

July 5, 1987: The Tamil Tigers carries out their first suicide bombing, killing 40 troops at an army camp in the north of the country.

March 2, 1991: Defence minister Ranjan Wijeratne is among 19 people killed when a car bomb is detonated in Colombo.

May 21, 1991: Former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi is killed at a meeting in southern India. June 22, 1991: A suicide bomber drives a truck packed with explosives into the military Joint Operations Headquarters at Flower Road, killing 21 and wounding 114.

May 1, 1993: President Ranasinghe Premadasa and 23 others are killed by a suicide bomber in Colombo.

October 24, 1994: Opposition leader Gamini Dissanayake and 56 others are killed by a suicide bomber in Colombo.

January 31, 1996: A suicide bomber drives a truck packed with explosives and devastates the Central Bank, killing 91 and wounding 1,400.

January 25, 1998: Suicide bombers devastate the country's holiest Buddhist shrine in the town of Kandy, killing 16.

September 11, 1998: Twelve people, including the mayor, are killed in Jaffna when a bomb blast rocks the municipal council building.

December 18, 1999: President Chandrika Kumaratunga is wounded and 38 are killed in two separate attacks on election rallies.

January 5, 2000: At least 12 killed and 24 wounded when a woman suicide bomber detonates explosives strapped to her body outside the office of Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike.

June 7, 2000: Suicide bomber assassinates Industries Minister C.V. Gooneratne, killing 25 and injuring 27.

September 15, 2000: Tamil Tiger suicide bomber detonates explosives strapped to his body while he is being searched outside the country's main eye hospital complex in the capital Colombo. Seven people die.

October 2, 2000: Suicide bomber detonates a bomb, killing himself and 23 others, including Muslim candidate M. Baithullah eight days ahead of elections.

October 23, 2000: Suicide bombers ram four boats packed with explosives and sink a navy gunboat and a troop carrier berthed at the Trincomalee naval harbour. At least two sailors are killed while 40 others are wounded.

July 24, 2001: Tiger rebels stage a devastating suicide attack against the main air base and only international airport in Sri Lanka, destroying 13 aircraft and leaving at least 12 people dead.

October 29, 2001: Suicide bomber detonates explosives strapped to his body as he is questioned by police guarding Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake in Colombo. A policeman and a civilian are also killed while 16 others are wounded.

February 7, 2003: Three Tiger rebels blast themselves to pieces shortly after Scandinavians monitoring a truce rule that their trawler was carrying an anti-aircraft weapon and ammunition in violation of a truce that went into effect.

In February 2002, a cease-fire was negotiated between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels under the mutual goal that it should facilitate peace talks that would end the 18-year civil war that had left more than 64,000 people dead.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who won Dec. 5 elections largely as a result of a platform that called for peace and economic recovery, ordered most roads reopened and military checkpoints dismantled.

Colombo underwent dramatic changes practically overnight, and as the military checkpoint disappeared, a feeling of relief fell over the country.