Battle of Janakapura

Last updated
Battle of Janakapura
Part of the Sri Lankan civil war
Date25 July 1993
Location
Janakapura, Weli Oya, Sri Lanka
Result LTTE victory
Belligerents
Coat of arms of Sri Lanka.svg Military of Sri Lanka Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Commanders and leaders
Lt. Gen. Cecil Waidyaratne
Brig. Parry Liyanage 		Velupillai Prabhakaran
Casualties and losses
24 soldiers killed
9 civilians killed
31 wounded
20 missing		 Unknown

The Battle of Janakapura, was a battle between the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE or Tamil Tigers) and the Sri Lanka Army during the Sri Lankan Civil War for control of the military camp at Janakapura in Weli Oya in northern Sri Lanka on 25 July 1993.

Contents

Background

The LTTE launched a surprise attack, on the government controlled area of Weli Oya, aimed at overrunning army detachment at Janakapura with its main camp in Janakapura and three other satellite camps in the area. The detachment consisted of approx. 150 military personnel and came under the 6th "Weli Oya" Brigade under the command of Brigadier Parry Liyanage. [1]

Attack

A force of 250 to 500 LTTE cadres attacked the Janakapura army camp at midnight on 25 July 1993, following several diversionary attacks on other army detachments at Kokkutoduwai and Kovil Point. At the time of the attack about 70 soldiers had been deployed on an ambush patrol outside the camp in two groups. Facing superior numbers, these two patrols avoided engaging the attacking force of the LTTE. The LTTE was able to overrun the camp after attacking it with RPGs. After capturing the camp the LTTE secured weapons, ammunition, equipment, and used army bulldozers to flatten the camp. [1]

Killing of civilians and prisoners

LTTE cadres also attacked the village adjoining the camp killing 9 civilians including women and children by means of shooting, knifing and grenades as a warning to the Sinhalese population in Weli Oya. LTTE also appears to have executed military personnel they had captured in the attack and later exhibited 18 bodies. [1] The LTTE killed the captured signals officer of the camp, Captain Wijenayake with a mammoty and took his eyes out, which was witnessed by a signaler who was also taken prisoner and later interrogated with torture by the LTTE to gain classified radio signal codes used by the Sri Lanka Signals Corps. He was held as a prisoner for five years. [2]

Aftermath

The army had suffered 24 killed, 20 missing and 31 wounded in addition to the loss of Rs 50 million worth of weaponry and equipment, which the LTTE removed from the camp. 14 soldiers including a captain had escaped the camp as it was overrun. The LTTE handed over civilians and ashes supposedly of soldiers to the ICRC a few days later. 130 families fled the village. Having been called the greatest defeat faced by the army to that point in the Sri Lankan Civil War, the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe questioned the incident at the National Security Council and the President D. B. Wijetunga expressed his displeasure of how the army had handled the matter. The Army Commander Lieutenant General Cecil Waidyaratne deflected blame to the Joint Operations Command which handled strategy and deployment of troops and Brigadier Parry Liyanage claimed that he lacked civilian cooperation and local intelligence. A Court of inquiry by the army found there had been gross negligence at all levels in the field. In November 1993, the LTTE launched a massive attack on Pooneryn with weapons it captured from Janakapura which lead to the deaths of over 200 army personnel and General Waidyaratne retired in December 1993. The army camp at Janakapura was reestablished and was again targeted by the LTTE in the Battle of Weli Oya in July 1995, where LTTE suffered major casualties. [3] [1] [4] [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lankan Civil War</span> 1983–2009 conflict

The Sri Lankan Civil War was a civil war fought in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009. Beginning on 23 July 1983, it was an intermittent insurgency against the government by the Velupillai Prabhakaran-led Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lanka government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Tigers</span> Sri Lankan separatist military unit

The Black Tigers was an elite suicide commando unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant Tamil separatist organization in Sri Lanka.

The Kent and Dollar Farm massacres were the first massacres of Sinhalese civilians carried out by the LTTE during the Sri Lankan Civil War. The massacres took place on 30 November 1984, in two tiny farming villages in the Mullaitivu district in north-eastern Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government labeled this as an attack on civilians by the LTTE.

Eelam War I is the name given to the initial phase of the armed conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eelam War II</span> Armed conflict between Sri Lankan military and LTTE

Eelam War II is the name given to the second phase of armed conflict between Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The war started after the failure of peace talks between the Premadasa government and the LTTE. This phase of the war was initiated by the LTTE who massacred almost 600 Sinhalese and Muslim police personnel after they were ordered by the Premadasa government to surrender to the LTTE. The truce was broken on June 10, 1990 when the LTTE in October expelled all the 28,000 Muslims residing in Jaffna.

Eelam War III is the name given to the third phase of armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuan Nizam Muthaliff</span>

Colonel Tuan Nizam Muthaliff, RWP, MI was a Sri Lanka Army officer and intelligence officer who, while serving as the commanding officer, 1 Military Intelligence Corps, was assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during the ceasefire and peace process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Theatre of Eelam War IV</span>

The Eastern Theatre of Eelam War IV started in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka on July 21, 2006 when the LTTE cut off the water supply to rice fields in eastern Trincomalee district. The government claimed total control of the Eastern province after capturing Thoppigala on July 11, 2007, after nearly a year of fighting. Major battles took place at Sampoor, Vakarai, Kanchikudicharu, Kokkadichloai and Thoppigala. Military and civilian deaths were relatively low on both sides. Government forces captured much military hardware from the LTTE during the conflict. The civilians managed to flee the combat zones, and this reduced civilian casualties, while swelling the number of internally displaced people (IDP). The world health organization (WHO) estimated ~200,300 IDPs, and claims that significant progress occurred in resettling them. The LTTE vowed to attack Sri Lanka's military and economic targets across the country to retaliate for the capture of the Eastern province from them. This was stated by the leader of the LTTE's political wing, S.P. Thamilchelvan, in a statement to Associated Press on July 12, 2007.

The Battle of Mullaitivu, also known as the First Battle of Mullaitivu and codenamed Operation Unceasing Waves-1, was a battle between the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan military during the Sri Lankan Civil War for control of the military base in Mullaitivu in north-eastern Sri Lanka.

The Battle of Thoppigala took place between the Sri Lanka Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fought during a period of the first half of 2007 over control of the LTTE-dominated peak of Thoppigala, located 40 km northwest of Batticaloa, in eastern Sri Lanka.

The Battle of Pooneryn took place between the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan military during the Sri Lankan Civil War for control of the military base in Pooneryn in northern Sri Lanka from 11 November to 14 November 1993.

The Northern Theatre of Eelam War IV refers to the fighting that took place in the northern province of Sri Lanka between July 2006 and May 18, 2009.

The Battle of Kokavil was fought from 27 June to 11 July 1990 in Kokavil, Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan military camp at Kokavil was put to siege by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for 14 days before they captured it. Of the 54 Sri Lankan Army soldiers stationed in the base at the time, only 2 and a civilian cook reached friendly lines after the battle, with all others having been presumably killed by the LTTE.

The Battle of Vavunathivu took place during the Sri Lankan Civil War. It occurred on 7 March 1997 in which the LTTE militants attacked and overran the Sri Lanka Army military camp at Vavunathivu off Batticaloa.

A mass murder of Sri Lankan Police officers took place on 11 June 1990. Members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant organization, are alleged to have killed over 600 unarmed Sri Lanka Police officers in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Some accounts have estimated the number killed as high as 774. It was the deadliest terrorist incident in the world at the time until the September 11 attacks occurred in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecil Waidyaratne</span> Sri Lankan general

General L. D. E. Cecil Waidyaratne, VSV, USP was a Sri Lanka Army general. He was 12th Commander of the Sri Lankan Army and a former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Thailand.

The Battle of Weli Oya, took place between the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lanka Army during the Sri Lankan Civil War for control of the military bases in Weli Oya in northern Sri Lanka on 28 July 1995.

The Battle of Mandaitivu took place during the Sri Lankan Civil War. It occurred on 28 June 1995 in which the LTTE militants attacked and overran the Sri Lanka Army detachment in the island of Mandaitivu in Jaffna.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "SPECIAL REPORT 5 FROM MANAL AARU TO WELI OYA AND THE SPIRIT OF JULY 1983". uthr.org. University Teachers for Human Rights . Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  2. ↑ "The POWs Of The Eelam War". Colombo Telegraph. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  3. ↑ "HUMANITARIAN OPERATION FACTUAL ANALYSIS JULY 2006 – MAY 2009" (PDF). slembassyusa.org. Sri Lankan Embassy in the US. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  4. ↑ Chandraprema, C. A. (2012). Gota's War. Colombo: Piyasiri Printing Systems. pp. 215–216.
  5. ↑ June '93 peace moves preceded stunning battlefield defeats

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.