Anuradhapura massacre

The Anuradhapura massacre occurred in Sri Lanka in 1985 and was carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.[1][2] 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. The responsibility for the massacre was not openly claimed by any Tamil militant group and some of the groups, including PLOTE and TULF, expressed revulsion at the attack.[3] However, state intelligence discovered that the operation was ordered by the LTTE Mannar commander Marcelin Fuselus (alias Victor) and executed by his subordinate Anthony Kaththiar (alias Radha).[4][5] The attack was sparked by the 1985 Valvettiturai massacre, where the Sri Lanka Army massacred 70 Tamil civilians in the LTTE's leader hometown.[note 1]

Anuradhapura massacre
LocationAnuradhapura, Sri Lanka
DateMay 14, 1985 (1985-05-14)
Attack type
Massacre
WeaponsGuns
Deaths146 Sinhalese men, women and children
PerpetratorsLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

Incident

The LTTE hijacked a bus May 14, 1985, 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.[7] LTTE cadres then drove to the Sri Maha Bodhi shrine and gunned down nuns, monks and civilians as they were worshipping inside the Buddhist shrine.[8] Before they withdrew, the LTTE strike force entered the national park of Wilpattu and killed 18 Sinhalese in the forest reserve. The LTTE cadres massacred 146 Sinhalese men, women and children in total, in Anuradhapura.

Initially, EROS claimed responsibility for the massacre, but it later retracted the statement, and joined the PLOTE in denouncing the incident. The groups later accused the LTTE for the attack.[9]

Retaliation

On the two days following the attack, 75 Tamil civilians were killed by the Sri Lankan Army in retaliation, including at the Kumudini boat massacre.[10] In the ensuing weeks dozens more Tamil civilians were also killed.[11]

Notes
    1. "In May 1985, immediately following the massacre by the Sri Lankan Army of about 70 Tamil civilians in the northern coastal town of Valvettithurai, the LTTE leader's birth-place, the LTTE carried out a massacre of over 150 mainly Buddhist pilgrims in the sacred city of Anuradhapura."[6]

    References
    1. Barry Rubin; Judith Colp Rubin (2015). Chronologies of Modern Terrorism. Routledge. p. 149. ISBN 9781317474654. LTTE terrorist in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, massacre about 120 Sinhalese and injure 58 others, many of them pilgrims who were inside the sacred Bo Tree temple
    2. Atalia Omer; Jason A. Springs (2013). Religious Nationalism: A Reference Handbook: A Reference Handbook: Contemporary World Issues. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598844405. LTTE commits the Anuradhapura massacre of civilians. This is one of the LTTE's largest massacres to date.
    3. Amarasingam, Amarnath (2015). Pain, Pride, and Politics: Social Movement Activism and the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in Canada. University of Georgia Press. p. 38. ISBN 9780820348148. Although no Tamil militant group openly claimed responsibility, some of the groups, including PLOTE and TULF, expressed revulsion at the attack
    4. "Inside the LTTE: A Look at the Tigers' Command Structure and Regional Leaders". WikiLeaks. 1986-02-12. WikiLeaks cable: 87COLOMBO1041. Retrieved 13 June 2019. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
    5. Richardson, John Martin (2005). Paradise Poisoned: Learning about Conflict, Terrorism, and Development from Sri Lanka's Civil Wars. International Center for Ethnic Studies. p. 76. ISBN 9789555800945. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
    6. M.R.R.Hoole, The Tamil Secessionist Movement in Sri Lanka (Ceylon): A Case of Secession by Default? http://www.uthr.org/Rajan/selfdet.htm
    7. Sri Lanka Tamil Terror: Blood flows at a Buddhist shrine
    8. Daya Gamage (1 March 2013). "(The West) Eyes Wide Closed: Revisiting Tamil Tiger massacres in Sri Lanka". Asian Tribune. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
    9. "GENERAL". www.hrw.org. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
    10. Gassbeek, Timmo (2010). Bridging troubled waters? Everyday inter-ethnic interaction in a context of violent conflict in Kottiyar Pattu, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka (PhD). Wageningen University. p. 152.
    11. Gassbeek, Timmo (2010). Bridging troubled waters? Everyday inter-ethnic interaction in a context of violent conflict in Kottiyar Pattu, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka (PhD). Wageningen University. p. 152.

    References and further reading
    • Gunaratna, Rohan. (1998). Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis and National Security, Colombo: South Asian Network on Conflict Research. ISBN 955-8093-00-9
    • Gunaratna, Rohan. (October 1, 1987). War and Peace in Sri Lanka: With a Post-Accord Report From Jaffna, Sri Lanka: Institute of Fundamental Studies. ISBN 955-8093-00-9
    • Gunasekara, S.L. (November 4, 2003). The Wages of Sin, ISBN 955-8552-01-1
    • Sri Lanka Tamil Terror Time May 27, 1985

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