The Kattankudy Mosque Massacre was the killing of over 147

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

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 news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

'', 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 The Isha prayer ( ar, صلاة العشاء ', "night prayer") is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayer). As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Isha prayer is technically the second prayer of the day. If counted from midnight, it is t ...

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

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

Background

The

, is a militant rebel organization which had been fighting the Sri Lankan Civil War since 1976 in order to establish a separate state in the North and East of the country. Peace talks which began in 1989 broke down ending a 13-month ceasefire. On 11 June the LTTE attacked numerous government targets such as

Police stations The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...

. On June 26, 1990 LTTE militants looted 93 shops in Kattankudy, burning 3 of them. On 24 July 1990 armed persons murdered four Muslims at a mosque in the

Batticaloa District Batticaloa District ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு மாவட்டம் ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu Māvaṭṭam''; si, මඩකලපුව දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''maḍakalapūva distrikkaya'') is one of the 25 dist ...

. On 29 July 1990 armed persons killed 10 worshippers in

Sammanthurai Sammanthurai ( ta, சம்மாந்துறை, translit=Cam'māntuṟai; si, සමන්තර, translit=Samantara, si, සම්මාන්තුරේ , translit=Sammānturē), is a town in Ampara District of Eastern Province of Sri L ...

, 25 miles east of the town of

Batticaloa Batticaloa ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu''; si, මඩකලපුව, ''Maḍakalapuwa'') is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the B ...

. 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'') a ...

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 Isha may refer to: * Isha (Fantasy), the fictional deity from ''Warhammer Fantasy'' * Isha Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev * Isha prayer, the night-time daily prayer obligatory in Islam * Isha Upanishad, t ...

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

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 Eyewitness or eye witness may refer to: Witness * Witness, someone who has knowledge acquired through first-hand experience ** Eyewitness memory ** Eyewitness testimony Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Eyewitness'' (1956 film), a Britis ...

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

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', 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 ( si, රණසිංහ ප්‍රේමදාස ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa'', ta, ரணசிங்க பிரேமதாசா ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was t ...

directed

Sri Lanka Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්‍රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; ta, இலங்கை விமானப்படை, Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) is the air arm and the yo ...

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 Kattankudi. 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. LTTE denied responsibility and alleged that it was done by the government to get arms from the Islamic countries. Sri Lanka's largest Tamil party the

Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lankan ...

condemned the killings as "totally unacceptable". TNA leader

R. Sampanthan Rajavarothiam Sampanthan ( ta, இராஜவரோதயம் சம்பந்தன்; si, රාජවරෝදියම් සම්බන්දන්; born 5 February 1933) is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician and lawyer who has led the Ta ...

told the BBC Tamil service: From this point onwards LTTE committed number of atrocities against Muslim community including the total expulsion of Muslims from northern province.

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 Attacks on mosques in Asia August 1990 events in Asia Massacres in Sri Lanka Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam attacks in Eelam War II Massacres in religious buildings and structures Massacres in 1990 Mass murder of Sri Lankan Muslims Massacres of men Incidents of violence against boys Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 1990 Violence against men in Asia