October 1995 Eastern Sri Lanka massacres | |
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Location | Eastern Province, Sri Lanka |
Date | October 1995 (+8 GMT) |
Target | Sinhalese civilians |
Attack type | Mass murder, rape |
Deaths | 120[1] |
Injured | Unknown |
Perpetrators | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Tamil villagers in Boatte to a lesser extent |
The October 1995 Eastern Sri Lanka massacres were a series of massacres of the Sinhalese population in the Eastern Province or Sri Lanka carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the Sri Lankan Civil War.
These massacres occurred at small villages in the Eastern Province.[2] Some allege the massacres were aimed at ethnic cleansing of Sinhalese in the region.[3][4] The Sri Lankan Army claimed that the massacres were designed to divert the Army's attention away from its offensive in Jaffna.[5]