Kokavil ( ta, கொக்காவில் si, කොකාවිල්) is a village in

Mullaitivu District Mullaitivu District ( ta, முல்லைத்தீவு மாவட்டம் ''Mullaittīvu Māvaṭṭam''; si, මුලතිවු දිස්ත්‍රික්කය) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level ad ...

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 ...

, also called ''Kokkavil''. It is situated along the A-9 road.

History

Massacre on Yal Devi

Troops were located parallel to the A-9 highway and the old Murikandi-Kokavil Railway Station where 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) massacre on the "Yal Devi" passenger train occurred. On 19 January 1985, the packed Yal Devi train was attacked by members of the LTTE, triggering a landmine. 28 soldiers and 11 civilians were killed, and 20 soldiers, five civilians and three police officers were injured. The train driver pushed all the injured into the carriage connected to the diesel locomotive and continued the journey, leaving the other 12 compartments behind, as the train remained disconnected as a result of the impact of the blast. All casualties were delivered to the nearest hospital at the next railway station.

Military history

On 11 July 1990 the Sri Lankan Army lost the Kokavil army camp, which guarded the

Rupavahini The Sri Lanka Rūpavāhinī Corporation ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රූපවාහිනී සංස්ථාව; ta, இலங்கை ரூபவாகினி கூட்டுத்தாபனம்), also known as Jathika R ...

relay tower. Captain

Saliya Upul Aladeniya Captain Samarakoon Wasala Mudiyanselage Saliya Upul Aladeniya, PWV, SLRS (in Sinhalese: කපිතාන් සාලිය උපුල් අලදෙනිය; 1 March 1963 – 11 June 1990) was a Sri Lankan soldier and the second recipien ...

was posthumously awarded the "

Parama Weera Vibhushanaya __NOTOC__ The Parama Weera Vibhushanaya (PWV) (Sinhala language, Sinhala: පරම වීර වීභූෂණය ''parama vīra vibhūṣaṇaya''; Tamil language, Tamil: பரம வீர விபுஷனைய) is Sri Lanka's highest Mil ...

" (PWV) Medal for valour during the fight, for defending the camp without reinforcements against the LTTE until the camp fell. He had received orders to abandon the camp, but refused to do so as the majority of his troops were injured and bullets were running low. He was the first to be posthumously nominated for the PWV. 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 ...

recaptured Kokavil on December 1, 2008, as part of the

Eelam War IV Eelam War IV is the name given to the fourth phase of armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Renewed hostilities began on the 26 July 2006, when Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jet ...

References

{{NorthernLK-geo-stub Villages in Mullaitivu District Oddusuddan DS Division