Navali Church Massacre

What Happened

Navaly village is in the Jaffna district. St Peters church is a famous temple in Navaly. Following the military orders to the people to take refuge in public places, thousands of people left their homes to take refuge in churches and temples. About 2,500 people had taken refuge in St Peters Church.

On 9th July 1995, eight rocket bombs were dropped on Navali church and its surroundings by the Sri Lankan Air Force. The church was crammed with people who had sought refuge when they realized the army was bombing their area.

155 bodies of civilians were recovered from the church and its surroundings and 250 people were injured. There is no doubt that the SLAF deliberately dropped bombs at a place where there was a maximum density of people gathered, and the large crowd of people would have been noticeable from the air.

Vaithiyalingam Kamalanathan lost his wife: "At about 4:35pm we heard a very big bomb blast and saw clouds of smoke. When I ran back to my house, the road was filled with fallen trees and buildings. In my house my wife was bleeding from her chest. My daughter was injured in her head and hand. My wife died at the hospital asking me to look after our children."

Perpetrators

Sri Lankan Air Force

Sources & References

• NESOHR - Lest We Forget Volume I