1985 Valvettiturai massacre

Not to be confused with the 1989 Valvettiturai massacre.

1985 Valvettiturai massacre
Location	Valvettiturai, Sri Lanka
Coordinates	9°49′N 80°10′E
Date	12 May 1985
Target	Mostly the Sri Lankan Tamil civilians
Deaths	70
Perpetrators	Sri Lanka Army

The 1985 Valvettiturai massacre happened on May 12, 1985 after 2 landmine attacks killed 10 soldiers and an officer in Valvettiturai.[1] 70 minority Sri Lankan Tamil civilians from the town of Valvettithurai (abbreviated as VVT), Sri Lanka were rounded up. They were asked to go inside the town library and then the library was blown up by the Sri Lankan Army killing all of them.[2] The LTTE would later apparently retaliate in Anuradhapura.[3] In the ensuing weeks dozens more Tamil civilians were also killed.[1]

See also

• List of attacks on civilians attributed to Sri Lankan government forces

References

1. Gassbeek, Timmo (2010). Bridging troubled waters? Everyday inter-ethnic interaction in a context of violent conflict in Kottiyar Pattu, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka (PhD). Wageningen University. p. 152.
2. Hoole, Rajan (2001). Sri Lanka: The Arrogance of Power: Myths, Decadence & Murder. University Teachers for Human Rights. ISBN 955-9447-04-1. p. 214
3. Brown, Cynthia, ed. (1995). Playing the "Communal Card": Communal Violence and Human Rights. Human rights Watch. ISBN 1-56432-152-5. p. 91