The Battle of Weli Oya, was a battle between the

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

(LTTE or Tamil Tigers) and the

Sri Lanka Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

during the Sri Lankan Civil War for control of the military bases in

Weli Oya Weli Oya, ( ta, மணலாறு, translit=Maṇalāṟu) is a Sinhalese colony area in Mullaithivu District, Sri Lanka formerly known as Manal Aru. Weli Oya has been affected by the Sri Lankan civil war and government colonization programs. ...

in northern

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

on 28 July 1995.

Background

The LTTE launched a surprise attack, on the government controlled area of Weli Oya, aimed at overrunning four army camps (Kokkilai, Kokkuthuduvai, Jayasinghapura and Janakapura) in the area including the Weli Oya Brigade headquarters. Troops posted to these camps were mostly

reservists A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is ...

from volunteer regiments, national guardsmen with artillery and engineering units. The army units came under the command of

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Janaka Perera Major General Janaka Perera, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP, rcds, psc, CR (1 February 1946 – 6 October 2008) was a Sri Lankan General and politician. He served as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army and is considered one of the most d ...

, Brigade Commander of the 6th "Weli Oya" Brigade, who had prepared the defense of the camps, having gain warning of a possible attack from the

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

Attack

On the morning of 28 July 1995, LTTE units which included veterans from their attack on Pooneryn armed with weapons captured from the army at Pooneryn; attacked from both land and from seaward amphibious landings. The army units which had put a stiff defense had sustained 2 killed and many wounded. The attackers failed to penetrate the defense lines or knock out artillery gun placements as it had planned with the use of female suicide bombers. SLAF provided air support, knocking out LTTE transports, while the

Sri Lanka Navy ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை , image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy , dates = , c ...

deployed

Dvora-class fast patrol boat The Dvora-class fast patrol boat is a fast class of patrol boats built by Israel Aerospace Industries for the Israeli Sea Corps based on the Israeli . Operational history Sri Lanka The Dvora class has become the work horse of the Sri Lanka ...

s off the coast of Weli Oya disrupting LTTE movements at sea.

Aftermath

Soon after the battle, Brigadier Perera was transferred to command the elite Reserve Strike Force (RSF) which consisted of special forces, commando and air mobile units in Jaffna. A few months later he played a major role commanding the elite 53 Division in the

Operation Riviresa Operation Riviresa (Operation Sunrays), was a combined military operation launched by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in Jaffna. Starting on 17 October 1995, the primary objective of the operation was the capture of the city of Jaffna and rest of ...

which the Sri Lanka Army re-captured the whole of the Jaffna peninsula Following his retirement, Major General Janaka Perera entered politics contesting in the 2008 North Central Provincial Council election for the post of

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

. Although his party failed to gained majority, he won the highest number of preferences. He was killed a few months later by a LTTE suicide bomber on 6 October 2008 in

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Weli Oya

1995 in Sri Lanka July 1995 events in Asia

Background

Attack

Aftermath

See also

References