The Kattankudy Mosque Massacre was the killing of over 147

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

men and boys on 3 August, 1990.''

Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: ),J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English or New China News Agency, is the official State media, state news agency of the China, People's Republic ...

'', 147 Muslims Massacred by Tamil "Tigers" in Sri Lanka, Colombo, ''August 3, 1990'' Around 30 armed Tamil militants raided two mosques in Kattankudy (Meer Jummah Mosque, Kattankudy-01 & Hussainiyya Mosque, Manchanthoduwai) where over 300 people were prostrating in

Isha prayer Isha (), alternatively also transliterated as Isha'a, and also known as Khoftan or Khooftaan, is one of the mandatory five daily Islamic prayers, and contains four cycles. Ahadith mentioning virtues Uthman reported that he heard Muhammad say ...

s. The Sri Lankan government, survivors, and observers accuse the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

(LTTE) of committing the crime. The LTTE denied involvement and never retracted the denial.

Background

Peace talks which began in 1989 broke down ending a 13-month ceasefire. According to NESOHR, on June 10 1990,

groups with the help of the security forces massacred 37 Tamil civilians in Sammanthurai. On 11 June the LTTE attacked numerous government targets and massacred over 600 Sri Lankan Police officers. In response, hundreds of Tamil civilians were massacred in the east by security forces with the help of

home guards.Sri Lanka: The Northeast: Human rights violations in a context of armed conflict
On June 26, 1990 LTTE militants looted 93 shops in Kattankudy, burning 3 of them. In mid-July, the LTTE massacred dozens of Muslims in retaliation for Muslim collaboration with security forces in the killing of Tamil civilians in

Ampara District Ampara District (; ) is one of the 25 Districts of Sri Lanka, districts of Sri Lanka, the second-level administrative divisions of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a Government Agent (Sri Lanka), Distric ...

. On 24 July 1990 armed persons murdered four Muslims at a mosque in the

Batticaloa District Batticaloa District ( ; ) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary (previously known as a Government A ...

. On 29 July 1990 armed persons killed 10 worshippers in Sammanthurai, 25 miles east of the town of

Batticaloa Batticaloa (, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu'', ; , ''Maḍakalapuwa'', ) is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the Batticaloa District. The city is the seat of the Eastern Univers ...

. Sri Lankan military officials claimed it was done by the LTTE. They also claimed the LTTE attacked

villages, and burning their shops and homes, on the basis of suspecting them of supporting the government.

Incident

On 3 August around 30 heavily armed Tamil rebels crossed a

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

and entered the town of Kattankudy. An LTTE tax collector, Ranjith Appah, had visited the house of Jinnah Hadjiaar, where LTTE gunmen shot his son-in-law dead. At around 8:10pm, the rebels entered the Meer Jumma Masjid, Hussainiya, Masjid-Jul-Noor and Fowzie Mosques, where hundreds of devotees were attending Friday Isha

prayer File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

s. The persons were disguised as Muslims to avoid suspicion. As the civilians knelt in prayer when the Tamil rebels attacked them, spraying automatic fire and hurling hand grenades at the worshippers. Most of the victims were shot in the back or side. The rebels fled as Sri Lankan soldiers, notified of the ongoing massacre, arrived at the scene. The army had delayed in reaching the town, citing the possibility of landmines as the reason. This led to some Kattankudy residents suspecting the army was somehow involved in the massacre. Initial report put the death toll at around 100, but as many of the injured who were rushed to hospital succumbed to their injuries, the final death toll rose to over 147.

Eyewitness accounts

Harrowing eyewitness accounts appeared in the international press over the next few days. Speaking to the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Mohammed Ibrahim, a 40-year-old businessman said: Mohammed Arif, a 17-year-old student who also survived the massacre told the New York Times:

Aftermath

Then Sri Lankan President

Ranasinghe Premadasa Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa ( ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa''; ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was a Sri Lankan politician and statesman who served as the third President of Sri Lanka from 2 January 1989 unt ...

directed

Sri Lanka Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF; ; ) is the air force, air arm and the youngest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. It was founded in 1951 as the Royal Ceylon Air Force (RCyAF) with the assistance of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The SLAF played a major r ...

helicopters to rush the injured to hospitals for urgent treatment. They continued to ferry the injured to hospitals throughout the next morning. Soon after the massacre, government troops launched an operation in the area to capture the killers. One of the helicopters involved in the search shot at two boat loads of LTTE rebels off the sea at Kattankudy. They were believed to be fleeing to India following the massacre. Casualties amongst the rebels were not confirmed. The incident was the worst massacre of civilians since the resumption the conflict on 11 June. All the victims were buried in a cemetery at the Meera Jumma Mosque, where mourners dug a long common grave for a row of coffins. Day after the massacre, more than 40 Tamil civilians were killed in Thirakkeni and on 8th August 49 Tamil civilians were killed in Oluvil in Ampara District by Muslims in retaliation. The LTTE also carried out several more attacks against Muslims in the Eastern Province and tit-for-tat killings continued on both sides. The LTTE denied responsibility for the massacre and alleged that it was done by the government to get arms from the Islamic countries. However, in a 2015 interview, Karuna Amman, the former LTTE commander of the Eastern Province who defected in 2004, claimed that the attack wasn't sanctioned by the LTTE leadership and that the culprits were punished by

Prabhakaran Velupillai Prabhakaran (; ; ; 26 November 1954 – 18 May 2009) was a Sri Lankan guerrilla and a major figure of Tamil nationalism, being the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE was a militant organiza ...

. The government's intelligence reports revealed that the LTTE leadership hadn't been informed beforehand about the attack. The UTHR(J) reported that the attack was the result of localized anger against Muslims over the violence against Tamils in the Eastern Province. Sri Lanka's largest Tamil party the

Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance (TNA; ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu'') was a political alliance in Sri Lanka which represented the Sri Lankan Tamil minority of the country. It was formed in October 2001 by a group of moderate T ...

condemned the killings as "totally unacceptable". TNA leader R. Sampanthan told the BBC Tamil service:

List of people killed on that day

#A R Atham Bawa (43) #H M Meera Lebbe (43) #K L M Mohamed Raffi (17) #A Pakeer Mohideen (65) #M S Abdul Hameed (25) #M A Faisal (13) #M I Jaufar (17) #M I Jaroon (10) #V M Ismail (37) #M M M Jaufar (17) #M K M Sahabdeen (41) #M S M Shukoor () #M S M Jawad (13) #M Iqbal (16) #M I Atham Lebbe (52) #M L Mohamed Muthu (70) #M S A Zuhaib Moulavi (20) #I Raffeek (18) #M M Sahibdeen Hajiyar (60) #M A Thambi Lebbe (45) #M M Ashrafkhan (20) #M B Jawad (13) #A M Yasseen (26) #M I M Ajmal (12) #A L Salahudeen (Hafil) (20) #M I Kamaldeen (30) #A L Mackeen (12) #M S M Sahabdeen Hajiyar (55) #M Umar Lebbe (38) #S A Majeed (37) #S H M Musthaffa (72) #Mohamed Anas (13) #M I Abdul Gaffoor (28) #S Zulfikar (17) #Abdul Nawas (21) #N M Ismail (45) #M C M Rizvan (10) #M S Abdul Muthaliff (47) #A Ramlan (30) #M Issadeen (15) #M B A Samad (38) #M K M Ariff (18) #M I Hassan (22) #M I Ashraff (11) #M Kamardeen (12) #S M Hayathu Kalanthar (60) #S A M Imthiaz (9) #S A M Iyansaad (18) #M C M Fareed (35) #M I A Azeez (37) #A M Haniffa (38) #M I Hussain (20) #M L M Thahir (27) #S L M Junaid (23) #M P M Junaid (34) #M M Haniffa Hajiyar (46) #S H M Nazeer (32) #M S A Raheem (26) #Dr R Mohamed Anver (55) #A C M Nasurudeen (40) #M I Ariff (12) #A K Haroon (31) #H M Fowser (14) #M M Ismail (40) #U L Mohideen (17) #A A Noordeen (30) #M T Jauffer (17) #M S M Fowser (12) #A Jauffer (14) #K L M Rahumathulla (42) #P M Mohamed Fazloon (15) #A M Mohamed Mustaffa (70) #S A S Sheriffdeen (Teacher) (52) #S S Seyed Mohamed (Ajmal) (10) #M A C M Buhary (Teacher) (35) #A Sameem (14) #P M Abdul Cader (45) #K M A Azeez (Teacher) (42) #M M Mohamed Fizal (15) #M A Fouzer (21) #A Atham Lebbe (57) #H M Mohamed Samsudeen (40) #M Samsudeen (33) #M S M Akram (6) #M S M Thalhan (8) #A L Abdul Hassan (12) #A L Abdul Samath (14) #M Y Inamul Hassan (16) #P M M Ibrahim (35) #U L Mohamed Ibrahim (28) #M Lebbei Thamby (48) #A L Kachchi Mohamed (Teacher) (56) #A S Abdul Muthaliff (18) #M M Cassim Hajiyar (57) #S M Sitheeque (16) #A M Salahudeen Hajiyar (48) #A M Kalanthar Lebbe Hajiyar (60) #M A M Abdul Cader (40) #M R Abdul Salam (23) #M M Junaid (21) #M A Mohamed Ameen () #A Farook (30) #Y L M Hareez (13) #M M Asanar (55) People injured and died later are not included here.

References

{{Coord missing, Sri Lanka Attacks on civilians attributed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Mosque massacres in Asia August 1990 in Asia 1990s massacres of the Sri Lankan civil war Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam attacks in Eelam War II Massacres in 1990 Mass murder of Sri Lankan Muslims Incidents of violence against boys Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 1990 Violence against men in Asia Grenade attacks in Sri Lanka Attacks on mosques in Sri Lanka Attacks on buildings and structures in 1990 1990 mass shootings in Asia Mosque shootings Kattankudy DS Division History of Batticaloa District Deaths by firearm in Sri Lanka 20th-century attacks on mosques