Mullaitivu (; ) is the main town of
Mullaitivu District
Mullaitivu 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 Governmen ...
, situated on the north-eastern coast of
Northern Province, Sri Lanka
The Northern Province ( ''Vaṭa Mākāṇam''; ''Uturu Paḷāta'') is one of the nine Provinces of Sri Lanka, provinces of Sri Lanka. The province has an area of 8,884 km2, making it the 3rd largest province by area, and a population of 1,061,3 ...
. A largely fishing settlement, the town in the early twentieth century grew as an anchoring harbour of the small sailing vessels transporting goods between
Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
and
Jaffna
Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...
. The town has a
District Secretary's office, many other government institutions and schools located in and around the area.
History
During the
Kandyan Wars
The Kandyan Wars (or the Kandian Wars) refers generally to the period of warfare between the British colonial forces and the Kingdom of Kandy, on the island of what is now Sri Lanka, between 1796 and 1818. More specifically it is used to descri ...
, the British
government house in Mullaitivu was attacked by forces of
Pandara Vanniyan and
Dissava of Nuwara Kalawiya who laid siege to the fort. Captain Drieberg with his force of Malays escaped from the fort in boats and reached Jaffna.
During the
Sri Lankan Civil War, Mullaitivu became an isolated base for the Sri Lankan armed forces. In a pitched battle the
LTTE succeeded in
overrunning the base in 1996. Following this the Sri Lankan armed forces withdrew from Mullaitivu which allowed the LTTE to gain control of the area. It was damaged by the
2004 Indian Ocean tsunami with a large loss of life. The
Sri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; t ...
took control of the town on January 25, 2009, in the
Battle of Mullaitivu in its offensive against the LTTE.
Security Forces Headquarters – Mullaitivu was established on June 5, 2009 in the town.
Gallery
File:TRO center, Mullaitivu.jpg, Welfare office, 2004
File:Sri Lanka Mullaitivu Kallapadu GTM School.jpg, Mullaitivu Kallapadu GTM School
File:Loading LTTE cadres in calm sea.jpg, LTTE sea tigers loading a ship at Mullaitivu, 2002
File:SLMM car in Mullaitivu Sri Lanka.jpg, Norwegian monitoring mission during the ceasefire, 2006
References
External links
Towns in Mullaitivu District
Maritimepattu DS Division
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