KAMALIKA PIERIS

 

 LTTE MASSACRES AT KOKILAI AND NAYARU   1984, 1985

Revised 10.3.25

On 1 December, 1984 LTTE cadres, including women fighters, attacked two Sinhala Catholic fishing villages, Nayaru and Kokkilai, killing 59 fishermen. [1]  Kokkilai lagoon is an estuarine lagoon on    north-east Sri Lanka .The town of Kokkilai is located on a sand bar between the lagoon and the Indian Ocean. Nayaru is 15 kilometers north of Kokkilai.

---

[1] T Sabaratnam  Manal Aru becomes Weli Oya  https://sangam.org/articles/view2/633.html

A string of Sinhala fishermen’s settlements had been established along the coast from Trincomalee to Mullaitivu. Nayaru and Kokkilai are the northernmost of these settlements. They were occupied by fishing families from Negombo and Chilaw.   

There had been two attacks on Kokkilai in 1978 and 1982 and some inhabitants had abandoned the village.[1]   This  attack was the third.  LTTE arrived in a van at 8 pm. The Tamil driver had tooted the horn and flashed the lights as he approached the Sinhalese, to warn them of the impending massacre. He was later found shot.  The militants jumped out and began throwing explosives and opening fire. Those not immediately killed ran to their boats to flee into the ocean.

Magilin Costa, who survived, had been returning home from her factory, at night, when she noticed a van tooting its horn and blinking its lights. She hid and watched. She recalled that there were men and women, in blue shorts and square necked shirts, they were young. They shouted filth in Tamil.  They first threw a bomb than started firing.  They fired at all the cadjan huts. They used at least two machine guns. After shooting the LTTE departed.  When she       returned home, she found that her two daughters had been bound by their long hair and shot dead at point-blank range.

The LTTE had gone on an orgy of destruction, said Malinga.  The survivors of the massacre became refugees and relocated to refugee camps in Negombo, Duwa and Pitipana

This attack was followed by another LTTE attack, in 1985, this time on the army camp at Kokkilai. On the night of 13 February 1985 LTTE attacked the Sri Lanka army encampment at Kokkilai. That year, the army had established a small outpost at Kokkilai inside an abandoned school, with a young second lieutenant, Sarath Wijesinha officer commanding two platoons of soldiers. It was completely cut off from the base camp.

Over 100 LTTE fighters surrounded the Kokkilai Army Camp and attacked it with RPGs, mortars and grenades for over four hours. .[2]   This was the first direct assault on a Sri Lanka military base by a Tamil militant group. It was also the first time they had used RPGs. After the clash ,14 bodies of militants were found outside the camp perimeter dressed in military type uniforms and with night vision glasses. 

Ravi Jayewardene, Malinga Gunaratne, and others had visited Kokkilai after it has been attacked by LTTE They were shown the arms recovered from the LTTE. There were three rocket propelled guns.  the rocket launcher had been taken away by the retreating LTTE.  LTTE came with the very best assault rifles including the German Heckler and Koch gun. Night vision glasses, AK 47, M16 assault rifles were in the possession of every rebel killed.

 The   dead LTTE soldiers were all in battle fatigues (combat uniforms). Even the underwear was of camouflage material. They each had night vision glasses, AK 47 and M16 assault rifles. They carried supplies of food and water and each had a cyanide capsule and stock of medicines which included expensive Destroz type pep pill used by long distance runners. David Walker of the UK Special Air Force (SAS) who was with them told the unfazed Wijesinghe, this is an excellent battle by any standard. Congratulations.

The army camp at Kokkilai was commanded by Lieutenant Shantha Wijesinghe. The camp was just two platoons of soldiers inside a school. Camp was cut off from the rest of the army.  Wijesinghe knew he had little strength, so he innovated. Wijesinghe cut trenches around the school, and placed his best snipers as sentries at strategic points outside the camp.

At about 2 am, on 15 February 1985, around 120 LTTE attacked with rocked propelled grenades. They shot down the search lights first. The army held its fire and thinking all were dead the LTTE came in. The army then fired, killing 25 LTTE and the LTTE leader ordered a retreat. Army had lost just two men.  They repulsed the attack by 120 LTTE though less armed.  The garrison held out and received reinforcements by morning.

This shows how bravely the war was fought in the initial stage with very poor weapons and little training, said Malinga Guneratne. Lieutenant Shantha Wijesinghe received a field promotion to captain, the first time in the army’s history. (continued)

---

[1]  Malinga Gunaratne. For a sovereign state

[2] https://sangam.org/pirapaharan-vol-2-chap-43-the-massacres/ sabaratnam