The Attack
On January 2, 1993, Saturday night passengers were seen leaving in batches of 15 to 20 in each boat at regular intervals. The first four boats from Kilaly in the rebel LTTE occupied north shore reached the mainland to the south without incident. A naval gun boat fitted with a cannon was in the lagoon at the time. This boat could operate in an area in the centre of the lagoon, where the water was deep enough, but could not approach the shores. Following the four passenger boats was a speed boat with three outboard motors. which was commonly used by LTTE. The passengers in the speed boat were not armed. Upon seeing the Naval gun-boat, the speed boat made a U-turn and sped away towards the north shore. The Gun-boat gave a chase, and the speed boat ran close to a group of passenger boats, which were heading south from the north shore, and escaped northwards.
From a distance, The gun-boat opened fire on these passenger boats, and continued to fire for up to half an hour, according to a Reuters report. The gun-boat did not receive return fire at any stage. Although the gun-boat did not go near the attacked boats, the boats were boarded by Sri Lankan Navy men who came in other smaller boats.
Read more about this topic: Jaffna Lagoon Massacre
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