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The '''Gongala Massacre''' refers to a series of murders that occurred September 18, 1999, in the small village of [[Gonagala]], located in the [[Ampara]] District of [[Sri Lanka]]. According to reports, over 50 men, women and children were killed in a variety of means. The murders are attributed to the [[LTTE]] organization, which is banned as a terrorist organization by the US, UK, EU and India.
{{infobox civilian attack
| title = Gonagala massacre
| date = 18 September 1999
| location = Gonagala, [[Ampara]], [[Sri Lanka]]
| type = [[Massacre]]
| weapons = [[Knife|Knives]], [[machete]]s, [[revolver]]s
| fatalities = 54
| perps = [[LTTE]]
| numparts = ~75
}}


⚫
The '''Gonagala Massacre''' was a [[massacre]] that occurred on 18 September 1999, in the small village of Gonagala, located in the [[Ampara]] District of Sri Lanka. According to reports, over 50 men, women and children were hacked to death in the middle of the night. The massacre is attributed to the [[LTTE]], which is banned as a terrorist organisation by a number of countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and the [[European Union]].
⚫
The Gonagala massacre is one of a several attacks believed to be carried out by this organization. The murders are significant, because unlike previous attacks, most of the LTTE cadres who took part in it were women. According to survivors, there was a significant presence of female cadres among the 75 LTTE cadres who took part in the killings <ref name="Hinduonnet">[http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1620/16201340.htm Carnage in eastern Sri Lanka, Frontline]</ref>.


⚫
The Gonagala massacre is one of many such attacks believed to have been carried out by the LTTE. However these murders gained notoriety because, unlike previous attacks, most of the LTTE cadres who took part in it were women. According to survivors, there was a significant presence of female cadres among the 75 LTTE cadres who took part in the killings.<ref name="Hinduonnet">''Frontline'', {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20090624012051/http://hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1620/16201340.htm Carnage in eastern Sri Lanka]}}</ref>
⚫
==Incident==


⚫
== Incident ==
The incident occurred in the early morning of September 18, 1999, at the 31
Colony in Ampara. [[LTTE]] cadres first entered Gonagala village and hacked to death 50 Sinhalese civilians (most of them in their sleep). A middle aged man who had tried to protect himself had his hand severed and skull pulverised. After the attack hacked bodies of children lay in pools of blood in the cots where they had slept<ref name="Hinduonnet"/>.
The incident occurred in the early morning of 18 September 1999, at the 31 Colony in [[Ampara]]. The [[LTTE]] cadres first entered Gonagala village and hacked to death 50 [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] civilians, most of them in their sleep. A middle aged man who had tried to protect himself had his hand severed and skull pulverised. After the attack, the hacked bodies of children lay in pools of blood in the cots where they had been sleeping.<ref name="Hinduonnet"/>


The [[LTTE]] cadres then moved from the Gonagala settlement to two others in the neighbourhood where they killed four more civilians,before making good their exit<ref name="Hinduonnet"/>.
The LTTE cadres then moved from the Gonagala settlement to two neighbouring ones, where they killed four more civilians, before making good their exit.<ref name="Hinduonnet"/>


==Victims==
== Victims ==
Of those 54 victims, there were 27 men, 17 women and 10 children. Out of the 17 women who died in the killings, two of them were pregnant.<ref name="Sunday Times">[http://lakdiva.org/suntimes/990919/frontm.html Pre-dawn horror in Ampara, Sunday Times]</ref>
Of those 54 victims of the massacre, 27 were men, 17 were women and 10 were children. Out of the 17 women who died in the killings, two of them were pregnant.<ref name="Sunday Times">''The Sunday Times'', [http://sundaytimes.lk/990919/frontm.html Pre-dawn horror in Ampara]</ref>


According to forensic experts only one victim was shot dead by a revolver, while the rest were killed with [[Knife|knives]] or [[machete]]s. It was reported that , four of the civilians were also seriously wounded.<ref name="Sunday Times"/>
According to forensic experts only one victim was shot dead with a revolver, while the rest were killed with [[Knife|knives]] or [[machete]]s. It was also reported that four other civilians were also seriously wounded.<ref name="Sunday Times"/>


==Eyewitness accounts==
== Eyewitness accounts ==
⚫
One survivor, Herath Mudiyansalege Premasiri, a 29-year-old farmer, gave a description of the events that happened around him.
⚫
<blockquote>"''We finished late and went to bed. There were about 15 of us, relatives and friends who came to help us for the alms-giving. I was sleeping alone in my room. Around 2&nbsp;am I heard a group of people banging on the door. They later broke into the house.''"<ref name="Sunday Times"/></blockquote>


⚫
He survived by hiding under his bed, but 14 other people who stayed at his home on that day were killed by LTTE cadres.
⚫
One survivor (A 29-year-old farmer), Herath Mudiyansalege Premasiri, gave a description of the gory events which happened around him.
⚫
<blockquote>"''We finished late and went to bed. There were about 15 of us, relatives and friends who came to help us for the alms-giving. I was sleeping alone in my room. Around 2 am I heard a group of people banging on the door. They later broke into the house.''"</blockquote><ref name="Sunday Times"/>


⚫
Another resident of the village, who was a home guard, had been on duty at a checkpoint further away. When he returned home in the morning, he found his pregnant wife, two children (ages six and eight), his father, mother, sister and brother-in-law dead.<ref name="Sunday Times"/>
⚫
He survived by hiding under his bed, but 14 other people who stayed at his home on that day,were killed by LTTE cadres.


==Popular culture==
⚫
Another survivor, who was a [[home guard]] and had been on duty at a checkpoint further away, also lived. When he returned home in the morning, he found his pregnant wife, two children (ages six and eight), his father, mother, sister and brother-in-law dead.<ref name="Sunday Times"/>
This incident and the immediate aftermath is depicted in the [[Sinhala language]] war-drama film "[[Gamani (2011 film)|Gamani (2011)]]".<ref name="Gamani">{{cite news | url=http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201109/20110916gamani.htm | title='Gamani' refreshes memory of a history going into oblivion – President | publisher=Policy Research & Information Unit of the Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka | date=16 September 2011 | access-date=18 March 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623000059/http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201109/20110916gamani.htm | archive-date=23 June 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref>


==References==
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
<div class="references-small">
<references />
</div>


==External Links==
== External links and further reading ==
* Miller, Professor Ken. "[http://www.pomona.edu/atpomona/sept06.shtml Heartache and Healing]", Pomona Collage, September 2006 .
* Miller, Professor Ken. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080512181534/http://www.pomona.edu/atpomona/sept06.shtml Heartache and Healing]", Pomona College, September 2006 .
* [[Rohan Gunaratna|Gunaratna, Rohan]]. ([[1998]]). ''Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis and National Security'', [[Colombo]]: South Asian Network on Conflict Research. ISBN 955-8093-00-9
* [[Rohan Gunaratna|Gunaratna, Rohan]]. (1998). ''Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis and National Security'', [[Colombo]]: South Asian Network on Conflict Research. {{ISBN|955-8093-00-9}}
* [[Rohan Gunaratna|Gunaratna, Rohan]]. ([[October 1]], [[1987]]). ''War and Peace in Sri Lanka: With a Post-Accord Report From Jaffna'', [[Sri Lanka]]: Institute of Fundamental Studies. ISBN 955-8093-00-9
* [[Rohan Gunaratna|Gunaratna, Rohan]]. (1 October 1987). ''War and Peace in Sri Lanka: With a Post-Accord Report From Jaffna'', Sri Lanka: Institute of Fundamental Studies. {{ISBN|955-8093-00-9}}
* Gunasekara, S.L. ([[November 04]], [[2003]]). ''The Wages of Sin'', ISBN 955-8552-01-1
* Gunasekara, S.L. (4 November 2003). ''The Wages of Sin'', {{ISBN|955-8552-01-1}}


{{Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam}}
==See also==
{{Sri Lankan Civil War}}
*[[Pottuvil massacre]]
{{coord missing|Sri Lanka}}
*[[Kent and Dollar Farm massacres]]
*[[Kokilai massacre]]


[[Category:Terrorist attacks attributed to the LTTE]]
[[Category:Attacks on civilians attributed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in the 1990s]]
[[Category:1990s massacres of the Sri Lankan civil war]]
[[Category:War crimes in Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Mass stabbings in Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam attacks in Eelam War III]]
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[[category:Civilian massacres in Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Massacres in 1999]]
[[Category:Mass murder of Sinhalese]]
[[Category:September 1999 events in Asia]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 1999]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents involving knife attacks in Asia]]
[[Category:Stabbing attacks in 1999]]
[[Category:Ampara]]
[[Category:History of Ampara District]]
⚫
[[Category:History of women in Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:1999 murders in Sri Lanka]]

Latest revision as of 06:44, 4 November 2024

Gonagala massacre
LocationGonagala, Ampara, Sri Lanka
Date18 September 1999
Attack type
Massacre
WeaponsKnives, machetes, revolvers
Deaths54
PerpetratorsLTTE
No. of participants
~75

The Gonagala Massacre was a massacre that occurred on 18 September 1999, in the small village of Gonagala, located in the Ampara District of Sri Lanka. According to reports, over 50 men, women and children were hacked to death in the middle of the night. The massacre is attributed to the LTTE, which is banned as a terrorist organisation by a number of countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

The Gonagala massacre is one of many such attacks believed to have been carried out by the LTTE. However these murders gained notoriety because, unlike previous attacks, most of the LTTE cadres who took part in it were women. According to survivors, there was a significant presence of female cadres among the 75 LTTE cadres who took part in the killings.[1]

Incident

[edit]

The incident occurred in the early morning of 18 September 1999, at the 31 Colony in Ampara. The LTTE cadres first entered Gonagala village and hacked to death 50 Sinhalese civilians, most of them in their sleep. A middle aged man who had tried to protect himself had his hand severed and skull pulverised. After the attack, the hacked bodies of children lay in pools of blood in the cots where they had been sleeping.[1]

The LTTE cadres then moved from the Gonagala settlement to two neighbouring ones, where they killed four more civilians, before making good their exit.[1]

Victims

[edit]

Of those 54 victims of the massacre, 27 were men, 17 were women and 10 were children. Out of the 17 women who died in the killings, two of them were pregnant.[2]

According to forensic experts only one victim was shot dead with a revolver, while the rest were killed with knives or machetes. It was also reported that four other civilians were also seriously wounded.[2]

Eyewitness accounts

[edit]

One survivor, Herath Mudiyansalege Premasiri, a 29-year-old farmer, gave a description of the events that happened around him.

"We finished late and went to bed. There were about 15 of us, relatives and friends who came to help us for the alms-giving. I was sleeping alone in my room. Around 2 am I heard a group of people banging on the door. They later broke into the house."[2]

He survived by hiding under his bed, but 14 other people who stayed at his home on that day were killed by LTTE cadres.

Another resident of the village, who was a home guard, had been on duty at a checkpoint further away. When he returned home in the morning, he found his pregnant wife, two children (ages six and eight), his father, mother, sister and brother-in-law dead.[2]

[edit]

This incident and the immediate aftermath is depicted in the Sinhala language war-drama film "Gamani (2011)".[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Frontline, Carnage in eastern Sri Lanka[usurped]
  2. ^ a b c d The Sunday Times, Pre-dawn horror in Ampara
  3. ^ "'Gamani' refreshes memory of a history going into oblivion – President". Policy Research & Information Unit of the Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka. 16 September 2011. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
[edit]

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