January 2 in History
1993 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navy kill 35–100 civilians on the Jaffna Lagoon
The Jaffna Lagoon massacre or Kilaly massacre occurred on this day in 1993, when a Sri Lankan Navy Motor Gun Boat and a number of smaller speed boats intercepted several boats transporting people between the south and north shores of the Jaffna Lagoon in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, and attacked them under the glare of a spotlight. The estimated number of deaths ranges from thirty-five (35) to one hundred (100). However, only fourteen (14) bodies were recovered. It was reported that other victims of the massacre were burnt along with their boats. The Sri Lankan government claims that the boats were transporting rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres.
The incident occurred during the Sri Lankan Civil War, which began with the 1983 Black July pogrom. In the early 1990s civilians, mostly minority Sri Lankan Tamils, were living within the rebel LTTE-controlled Jaffna peninsula. They were forced to use boats to travel to mainland Sri Lanka, as the land connection between the mainland and the Jaffna peninsula, which is separated by the Jaffna lagoon (also known as Kilaly lagoon), was blocked by a military camp at the isthmus of Elephant Pass. The LTTE had also prohibited civilians from using the land route.
Before the January 2 attack, roughly 15 civilians who were trying to cross the lagoon had been killed by the Navy, which led boat operators to refuse to travel the route. This stranded 800 people on both sides of the lagoon without food and shelter. Eventually, the boat operators relented and began travelling between the peninsula and the mainland on January 2.
-Wikipedia
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.