Anuradhapura massacre

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Sri Lankan Conflict
Background
Sri Lanka • History of Sri Lanka
Origins of the Civil War
Origins of the Civil War
Black July • Riots and pogroms
Human rights • Allegations of state terror
Tamil militant groups
LTTE
LTTE • Attacks • Expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna
Current major figures
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Velupillai Prabhakaran
Karuna Amman
Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Sarath Fonseka
Indian Involvement
Operation Poomalai
Indo-Sri Lanka Accord
Indian Peace Keeping Force
Rajiv Gandhi • RAW
See also
Military of Sri Lanka
TMVP • EPDP
Notable assassinations • Child soldiers
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The Anuradhapura massacre occurred in Sri Lanka in 1985 and was carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, an organization which has been banned in 33 countries including the US, Australia, EU, India and Canada due to its terrorist activities. This was the largest massacre of Sinhalese civilians by the LTTE to date; it was also the first major operation carried out by the LTTE outside a Tamil majority area.

Contents

[edit] Incident

The Anuradhapura massacre is an incident on May 14, 1985 in which LTTE cadres massacred 146 Sinhalese men, women and children in Anuradhapura. The LTTE hijacked a bus and entered Anuradhapura. As the LTTE cadres entered the main bus station, they opened fire indiscriminately with automatic weapons killing and wounding many civilians who were waiting for buses. [1] LTTE cadres then drove to the Buddhist Sri Maha Bobhi shrine and gunned down nuns, monks and civilians as they prayed inside the Buddhist shrine.[2] This incident was designed to provoke massive retaliation by the Sinhalese majority against the Tamils in order to strengthen the LTTE's position among the Tamil people.[3]

Before they withdrew, the LTTE strike force entered the national park of Wilpattu and killed 18 Sinhalese in the forest reserve.

[edit] Related incidents

Some of the related LTTE attacks on civilians between 1984 and 2006 include the

[edit] See also

[edit] References and further reading