The Anuradhapura massacre was the largest killing of Sinhalese civilians by the LTTE and its first major operation outside a Tamil-majority area.
Key Facts
- Date
- 14 May 1985
- Perpetrator
- Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
- Operation ordered by
- Velupillai Prabhakaran
- Field commander
- Victor (Marcelin Fuselus), LTTE Mannar commander
- Executor
- Anthony Kaththiar (alias Radha)
- Initial false claim
- EROS initially claimed responsibility, then retracted
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The LTTE stated the attack was carried out in retaliation for the 1985 Valvettiturai massacre, in which the Sri Lanka Army killed approximately 70 Tamil civilians in Prabhakaran's hometown. Ordered by Prabhakaran, the operation was assigned to LTTE Mannar commander Victor and executed by his subordinate Anthony Kaththiar.
On 14 May 1985, LTTE fighters attacked Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, killing Sinhalese civilians in what became the largest such massacre attributed to the LTTE to that date. It was the group's first major operation conducted outside a Tamil-majority area. EROS initially claimed responsibility but retracted and, along with PLOTE, denounced the attack.
No Tamil militant group formally admitted to the massacre. State intelligence subsequently attributed the attack to the LTTE. In 1988 the LTTE alleged the operation had been planned under guidance from Indian intelligence agency RAW. The event marked a significant escalation in the Sri Lankan Civil War and deepened ethnic tensions between Sinhalese and Tamil communities.