Vadamarachchi Operation

Vadamarachchi Operation
Part of Eelam War I of the Sri Lankan civil war
Date
  • 26 May – 4 June 1987 (1987-05-26 – 1987-06-04)
    (9 days)
Location
Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Result Phase 1 objective achieved by the Sri Lankan military
Phase 2 aborted due to the Indian intervention
Belligerents

 Sri Lanka

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Commanders and leaders
Cyril Ranatunga
Nalin Seneviratne
G. H. De Silva
Denzil Kobbekaduwa
Vijaya Wimalaratne		 Velupillai Prabhakaran
Soosai
Radha †
Kittu
Strength
4,000 soldiers 1,200 militants
Casualties and losses
33 killed[1]
182 wounded[1][2]		 Unknown killed[2][dead link‍]

Operation Liberation also known as the Vadamarachchi Operation was the military offensive carried out by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in May and June 1987 to recapture the territory of Vadamarachchi in the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE (Tamil Tigers).[3] At the time it was the largest combined services operation undertaken by the armed forces deploying multiple brigade-size formation, becoming the first conventional warfare engagement on Sri Lankan soil after the end of British colonial rule. The operation involved nearly 4,000 troops, supported by ground-attack aircraft, helicopter gunships and naval gun boats.[4] The offensive achieved its primary objective, however operations were suspended when the Indian government dropped food supplies over Jaffna in Operation Poomalai on June 4, 1987, which prompted the Sri Lankan government to accept the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord.[5][6]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Wickremesekera2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Welcome to UTHR, Sri Lanka". Uthr.org. Archived from the original on 8 May 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  3. ^ Heynes, Stephen (2016). "Chapter 6". Bleeding Island: Scars And Wounds. Partridge India. ISBN 978-1-4828-7478-5. OCLC 1152223926.
  4. ^ Mehta, Raj K. (2010). Lost victory : the rise & fall of LTTE supremo, V. Prabhakaran (1st ed.). New Delhi: Pentagon Security International. p. 277. ISBN 978-81-8274-443-1. OCLC 505913483.
  5. ^ Rajapaksa, Gotabhaya (2013). "Sri Lanka's national security" (PDF). Prism: A Journal of the Center for Complex Operations. 4 (4): 139–155. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  6. ^ Palihakkara, H.M.G.S. (2017). Post Conflict Foreign Policy Challenges for Sri Lanka. Decentralization and Development of Sri Lanka Within a Unitary State. Singapore: Springer. ISBN 978-981-10-4258-4.