12 years ago today - A night of heavy shelling

Marking 12 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, we revisit the final days leading up to the 18th of May 2009 – a date remembered around the world as ‘Tamil Genocide Day’.

Approximately 200 civilians sheltering at Mullivaikkal were rushed to the hospital as Sri Lankan military bombarded the area on the night of April 30, 2009. Dozens were killed.

Then British and French foreign ministers David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner wrote in The Times on April 30, 2009, after a visit to the island, where they met with Mahinda Rajapaksa.

“As members of the UN Security Council we do not shy away from the responsibility of sovereign governments and the international community to protect civilians,” they wrote in The Times.

Current TNA leader R Sampanthan met with the visiting delegation and informed them that at least 7,000 Tamils in Vanni had been killed and 14,000 injured in the last three months alone.
Meanwhile Sinhala Buddhist monks in the South protested against the visiting minsters.

The Sri Lankan government meanwhile finally admitted that it had bombed the ‘No Fire Zone’ where it had instructed Tamil civilians to seek shelter.

Confronted with leaked satellite footage of the region, which showed extensive crater marks from SL military shelling, SL Foreign Sec Palitha Kohona made the admission in an interview with Al Jazeera despite earlier government denials.

However, Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa contradicted his foreign secretary by continuing to categorically deny that the military had attacked civilian areas with heavy weapons.

Tens of thousands of Tamil protesters from around the world continued their protests, calling on international governments to pressure Sri Lanka into an immediate ceasefire and for urgent international humanitarian assistance.

Read more in our feature: https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/12-years-ago-today-night-heavy-shelling