‘Before I could run bombs began falling’ - Remembering the Navaly church massacre

On this day 27 years ago, the Sri Lankan air force dropped 13 bombs on St Peter’s Church in Navaly. More than 140 sheltering Tamils, who were encouraged by the military to seek refuge at the church, were killed on the spot. 

At least 13 children were amongst the dead, with many more succumbing to injuries later as the local hospital was swamped with the wounded.

‘Operation Leap Forward’

At approximately 4:30 pm on July 9, 1995, the St Peter’s Church in Navaly and the nearby Sri Kathirgama Murugan Kovil, which were both sheltering displaced Tamils from army bombardment, was attacked.

The bombings were part of a Sri Lankan military assault to capture the Jaffna peninsula after negotiations between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the then government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga broke down in contentious circumstances. The government accused the LTTE of rebuffing its peace efforts. The LTTE said the government was insincere about the peace and was playing for time.

When the war resumed in July 1995, the Sri Lankan armed forces had rearmed and expanded, acquiring helicopter gunships, heavier artillery and armour, as well as re-deploying troops from the eastern province into the Jaffna peninsula ahead of a new military project - codenamed 'Operation Riviresa'.

In the preceding weeks, the Sri Lankan air force had dropped leaflets across the region, instructing Tamil civilians to seek shelter at churches and temples as the military offensive began.

Codenamed ‘Operation Leap Forward’, the operation began on 9 July 1995, with the church bombed just a few hours into the assault. These places of worship were filled with hundreds of people, after the SLAF dropped leaflets saying that they should seek shelter in places of worship to avoid being targeted.

^{Sri Lankan troops in Jaffna, 1995.}

Several Sri Lankan units still boast of their involvement in the offensive to this day.

Amongst those involved in the offensive was Sarath Fonseka, who would go on to head the army during the massacres at Mullivaikkal in 2009.

‘Bombs rolling in the air’

^{A mother mourns her child.}

Eyewitnesses report seeing cluster bombs dropped in the church compound.

Chandrasekaran Selvanayagam and his then five-year-old brother Sasiraj were at their home adjacent to the church on the morning of the attack and recall seeing aircraft circling the region.

“Before I could run bombs began falling," recalled Sasiraj, years later." Suddenly there was a tremendous explosion. That is all I remember till I woke up in hospital”.

He lost his sight completely in the attack. His mother was killed in their home.

^{A family mourns.}

Astika Anthonypillai was 10 years old when the bombs were dropped. She survived, but her cousin was killed.

"She died on the spot," she said. "I was just lucky. My aunt came to rescue me… I was too scared to go back there for years after that."

Then bishop of Jaffna, Thomas Savundaranayagam said that "people almost automatically gather at churches because they believe that divine protection is intense there," noting that the military had informed Tamils to gather at the church.

"It was their last resort," he continued, "because the government itself had requested the people to gather at places of worship and also because they think that even the pilot, being an Asian religious person, will avoid killing people at a church."

Read more testimonies collected by the ICRC below:

"Pragasam Rajendran (M) 73 years - was just at the entrance of his house which is adjacent to the church premises. Had seen the plane. His wife Nageswary stayed next to him and saw 'the bombs rolling in the air like pamphlets'. He had started shouting and alerted the others to lie down. As the wife laid down, she heard the first explosion and continuously some more.'

Anthony Manuelpillai (M) 73 years - who came to the church premises to fetch water from the well had seen the plane at a very low altitude and saw the bombs falling 'like rolling papers'.

Jeganathan Jeyakumar (M) 17 years - was at a junction which is nearly 100 yards from the church premises. He had seen clusters of white objects moving towards him. As the plane passed over him blaring, he said he lied down and heard a series of explosions around the church area.

Antonythas Arulammah (F) 40 years - who was near the school building inside the church premises had seen the plane dropping something without diving downwards. She said she lied down after someone nearby alerted her for falling bombs.

Velupillai Arulammah (M) 59 years - he saw the plane dropping bombs while he was cooking meals for the displaced people inside the church compound.

George Theva (F) 45 years - was standing on the road outside the church premises. She had seen the plane dropping some objects like 'big watermelon'.

Father James (M) - was at St.Anthony's Church, Manipay during the incident. He saw one plane and about 6 bombs falling one after another."

International condemnation

See below for the numerous press reports and statements released in the aftermath of the attack, including from Pope John Paul, who denounced the attack and pledged solidarity with the victims.

According to eye-witness accounts, this church and several adjacent buildings were hit by further air force strikes at 4.30 p.m. the same day. During the attack 65 people were killed and 150 wounded, including women and children. That evening and into the night Sri Lanka Red Cross staff evacuated most of the wounded by ambulance to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) present the next morning at the scene of the attack noted the widespread damage and measured the extent of the tragedy: many of the bodies had not yet been removed from the rubble.

- International Committee of the Red Cross Communication to the Press No.95/30 (11 July 1995)

"Thirteen babies were among the 65 dead found under the rubble of a Catholic church bombed by the Sri Lankan air force, an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) official said on Tuesday.

The military, which said it was not aware of any church being bombed, had dropped leaflets warning civilians in the rebel-held peninsula to seek refuge in temples and churches to minimise the chance of death or injury in air strikes.

 `This is really a violation of humanitarian law if a civilian area has been deliberately targeted,'' Henry said, adding that he had no information on whether the attack was deliberate or an accident.

- Reuters (11 July 1995)

"Pope John Paul said on Wednesday he was suffering along with the families of people killed when air force bombs hit a church in Sri Lanka.

"I want to express my deep-felt sharing in the suffering of so many people involved in the ethnic conflict that is tearing Sri Lanka apart," he told pilgrims and tourists at his weekly general audience. "I share the grief of those who lost their loved ones in the bombing of the church and school of Navali," he added.

- Reuters (12 July 1995)

I very much regret to report to you the tragic killings of innocent civilian refugees who had gathered at the above Church on the instruction of your Defence Ministry.

A 'Pukkara' Air Craft had dropped a cluster of many bombs on this crowd of refugees who had taken shelter in the church resulting in the death of over 65 civilians including women and children and over 150 were seriously injured sustaining the loss of limbs.

Besides many were rendered homeless as many houses were razed to the ground and others heavily damaged, including our church and priest's house. All the people in this village have fled to safer areas as refugees.

Therefore we very earnestly appeal to Your Excellency to kindly instruct your forces to desist from bombing, strafing, artillery rocked attacks on civilian targets like Kovils, Churches, Schools and Hospitals."

- Bishop of Jaffna, Thomas Savundranayagam in a letter to Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga (10 July 1995)

"Most of the people huddled inside were women and children, many of whom were killed immediately. Others had limbs blown off. Survivors were brought by tractor to the town of Jaffna 6 km away, but the Jaffna Teaching Hospital and its lone surgeon weren't prepared. They soon ran out of bandages, antibiotics and beds. "The treatment was crude", said Subramaniam Jebanesan, the Protestant Bishop of Jaffna, who rushed to the hospital to help. "Limbs that could have been saved had to be amputated".

- Time Magazine (31 July 1995)

"St.Peters Church in Navaly and the adjoining St.Peter's School where hundreds had sought shelter were badly gutted. 56 bodies were retrieved from the debris, many of whom were women and children. The final death toll in Navaly was about 120. Rescue workers have reported that torn limbs and pieces of human flesh were strewn over the area."

- Press Release by Humanitarian Law Project, International Educational Development (12 July 1995)

“The Sri Lanka government, initially denied the bombing of the St.Peters Church. Then it criticised the ICRC representative for reporting the incident to the world media without consulting the Government. Later the government promised to hold an inquiry into the incident…The aerial bombardment of civilian population centres and places of worship follow a pattern set by the Sri Lanka armed forces over the past several years and President Kumaratunga's belated promise to investigate the recent violations, must ring hollow in the ears of the Tamil people whose kith and kin have lost their lives or their limbs in the bomb outrage.”

- A joint statement by 21 NGOs condemning the government’s killing of civilians. (1995)

Chandrika’s back and forth

Former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga has repeatedly flip-flopped over her government’s responsibility for the attack.

Initially she denied that the air force had bombed the church, attempting to blame the LTTE for the killings and claiming that "the army was firing artillery shells in a completely different direction".

"Only a few tiles of the roof were damaged by an explosion in the vicinity and the church building stands unscathed," Kumaratunga said in an interview broadcast nationally just weeks later.

As the scale of the massacre became clear, then Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar lashed out at the ICRC for releasing information on the attack. Members of the ICRC who attempted to protest the attack were reportedly summoned to Sri Lanka’s foreign office.

Meanwhile, Kumaratunga told reporters that “it was probably the work of the LTTE who were firing mortar shells in that direction.”

“The ICRC says all kinds of things," Reuters quoted her as saying. “There was fighting three kilometers northwest of Navali, so it was unlikely any action by the security forces would have affected the church or its environs.”

In 2015, she told an audience, "I have not done anything wrong… I don’t have blood on our hands”. Earlier that year, she had boasted of having won “75%” of the war during her tenure by going to war with the LTTE. And despite her tenure in office marred by the bombing of churches, schools and the massive military invasion of Jaffna, killing countless Tamil civilians.

Kumaratunga has repeatedly denied the need for an independent international investigation into war crimes. In 2017, she told a gathering in Jaffna, “We have no intention to drag the soldiers before courts and send them to gallows”.

However just last year, the former president reportedly said the attack was a “mistake” made by the Sri Lankan air force, backtracking from comments she made at the time.

According to comments in the Sudar Oli, Chandrika Kumaratunga claimed the “air force bombed the church by mistake”. “The church was not the target of the Air Force,” she was quoted to have said. “When I heard that the incident took place, I denounced the Air Force”.

Despite her apparent admission of guilt, no independent investigation has been held into the bombing.

^{Kumaratunga toasting as she receives France’s highest national honour, 2018.}

Kumaratunga meanwhile was awarded France’s highest national honour, the Medal of “Commandeur de la Légion D’Honneur”, in 2018. In recent months, photographs were shared of the former Sri Lankan president reportedly walking through the streets of London.

To this day, no one has been held accountable for the bombing of the church and the killings of Tamil civilians.

Remembering the massacred

The ICRC compiled a list of 108 names that they identified as having been killed in the aftermath of the massacre. At least 37 children are amongst the dead.

See the full list below.

Name of the dead Person	Gender	Age	Address
Mrs.N.Annaladsumy	female	57	110 BrownRd. Jaffna
Mrs.S.Gunamany	female	57	Kopulam,Sandilipay North
Mrs.N.Vasanthamalar	female	32	Kalaiyady, Pandaththarippu
Mrs.R.Pushparany	female	36	Kalaiyady, Pandaththarippu
Mrs.P.Balayogini	female	35	Kantharodai, Chunnakam
Miss.P.Balavalli	female	13	Kantharodai, Chunnakam
Mr.S.Selvaratnam	male	46	Nedunkulam Rd, Colombogam
Mrs.T.Pushparani	female	34	Kaddudai, Manipay
Mrs.S.Parasakthy	female	29	Chulipuram West, Chulipuram
Mr.S.Shanmuganathan	male	25	Chulipuram West, Chulipuram
Miss.Kemalatha	female	27	Navaly North, Manipay
Mas.S.Pratheesh	male	16	Navaly North, Manipay
Mr.S.Kandasamy	male	43	Thellipallai
Mr.P.Ketheeswara	male	17	Vellantheru, Jaffna
Miss.R.Chithra	female	15	Navaly South, Manipay
Mrs.S.Rasammah	female	71	Sankaraththai, Vaddukkoddai
Mrs.N.Thevaranjini	female	24	Navaly East, Manipay
Mr.P.Kalyanapillai	male	60	4th Cross St, Jaffna
Mr.T.Jesuthaasan	male	21	Main St., Jaffna
Mrs.S.Rasammah	male	50	Chulipuram, Thelpuram
Mr.P.Uthayakumar	male	35	Nitsaman,Chankanai
Mas.U.Satheeshkumar	male	13	Nitsaman,Chankanai
Miss.U.Ushanthini	female	12	Nitsaman,Chankanai
Mr.P.Nagamuththu	male	75	Nitsaman,Chankanai
Mas.Jegatheesan Jeevadas	male	17	Navaly South, Manipay
Mrs.A.Yogeswary	female	35	General Hospital, Jaffna
Mr.K.Thurairajah	male	55	Black Road, Chankanai
Mrs.K.Anjanadevi	female	36	Kaddudai, manipay
Mrs.K.Kamaladevi	female	45	Navaly East, Manipay
Mas.Vethushan	male	12	Vellantheru, Jaffna
Mr.A.Gunaratnam	male	40	Vellantheru, Jaffna
Mrs.K.Rahini	female	35	Vellantheru, Jaffna
Miss.Dharshini	female	14	Vellantheru, Jaffna
Mas.Piranavan	male	05	Vellantheru, Jaffna
Mr.Lucas Jude Mohan	male	23	Navaly South, Manipay
Mrs.K.Savithiri	female	45	Navaly East, Manipay
Mr.V.Vanniyasingam	male	57	Navaly North, Manipay
Mr.N.Chiththrabala	male	50	Chullipuram West, Chullipuram
Mrs.P.Langeswary	female	24	Chullipuram West, Chullipuram
Miss.P.Mathivathana	female	12	Chullipuram West, Chullipuram
Miss.C.Thaceswary	female	17	Chullipuram West, Chullipuram
Miss.S.Jeyabalini	female	19	Chullipuram West, Chullipuram
Mas.Pirahatheepan	male	07	Chullipuram West, Chullipuram
Mr.N.Gopalakrishnan	male	29	Chullipuram West, Chullipuram
Mas.K.Kajanthan	male	09	Chullipuram West, Chullipuram
Mas.V.Jeyanthan	male	04	Chullipuram West, Chullipuram
Mr.S.Mahendran	male	29	Chullipuram West, Chullipuram
Mas.S.Piratheepan	male	13	Kuhanthiram valavu, manipay
Mrs.S.Saraswathy	female	72	Navaly South, Manipay
Mas.K.Kailrajah	male	09	Murugan kovilady, Navaly
Miss.K.Vinoba	female	05	Murugan kovilady, Navaly
Mr.C.Nagaratnam	male	60	Murugan kovilady, Navaly
Miss.R.Thanushala	female	05	131 Mount Carmal Rd, Gurunagar, Jaffna
Mrs.R.Sasikala	female	02	kandy Road, Chavakachcheri
Mr.S.Rajadurai	male	35	Navaly South, Manipay
Mrs.R.Maheswary	female	34	Navaly South, Manipay
Mas.R.Chandrakanthan	male	13	Navaly South, Manipay
Miss.P.Sutha	female	11	Navaly South, Manipay
Mr.V.Satkunarajah	male	30	Navaly South, Manipay
Mr.P.Selvaratnam	male	60	Navaly South, Manipay
Miss.T.Thuvarakadevi	female	21	Madaththady, Tholpuram
Mas.T.Nareshkumar	male	11	Navaly South, Manipay
Mr.M.Thiruchchelvam	male	54	Valanpuram, Colombothurai
Mrs.S.Maheswary	female	27	Tholpuram Centre, Chullipuram
Mr.H.Sithamparam	male	72	Tholpuram Centre, Chullipuram
Mr.P.Uthayarajah	male	22	Navaly South, Manipay
Mr.P.Indrakumar	male	15	Chulipuram West, Chulipuram
Miss.K.Thevachelvi	female	10	kaddupulam, Chulipuram
Mrs.V.Liladevi	female	35	5th Cross Street, Colombothurai
Mr.S.Jeyaseelan	male	40	Navalar Street, Navanthurai
Mrs.K.Navaladchumy	female	42	Illayathamby Tea Room, Manipay
Mr.K.Thevakulasingam	male	36	Sivan kovilady, Thirunelveli
Mas.A.Yogeswaran	female	16	Kapiranjoy Camp, Chunnakam
Mr.M.Pararajasingam	male	42	Kaddudai, Manipay
Mr.G.Saththiyananthan	male	63	no.14, Kalaipulavarveethy, Jaffna
Mas.S.Gopikan	male	13	Uduvil, Chunnakam
Miss.N.Jeyatha	female	25	Uyarapulam, Anaicoddai
Mas.N.Thevaganesh	male	15	Uyarapulam, Anaicoddai
Miss.V.Abirami	female	10	Uyarapulam, Anaicoddai
Mrs.K.Maheswari	female	55	Thavady North, Kokuvil
Mr.T.Thiyagarajah	male	59	General Hospital, Jaffna
Mr.T.Anantharajah	male	34	General Hospital, Jaffna
Mr.T.Kulasingam	male	70	Uduvil West, Chunnakam
Mr.SivaBalasubramaniam	male	50	Petnathy Road, Kokuvil
Mr.S.Thevar	male	50	Petnathy Road, Kokuvil
Child of Thevar	female	10	Petnathy Road, Kokuvil
Child of Thevar	female	07	Petnathy Road, Kokuvil
Child of Thevar	female	05	Petnathy Road, Kokuvil
Miss.S.Anjanathevy	female	27	135, 3rd Cross St, Jaffna
Mas.K.Vasikaran	male	10	Tholpuram, Chulipuram
Mas.B.Ananda Alagan	male	16	Tholpuram, Chulipuram
Mr.P.Ravi	male	20	Vannarappannai, Jaffna
Miss.T.Sujeeva	female	17	Navaly South, Manipay
Mas.P.Krishnakumar	male	01	Vadaliadaippu, Pandaththarippu
Mas.R.Rajamohan	male	16	Araly South, Vaddukkodai
Mr.N.Narayanasingam	male	50	Araly South, Vaddukkodai
Mrs.S.Rasammah	female	57	Nitchamam, Chankanai
Mrs.M.Sarasu	female	75	Nitchamam, Chankanai
Mr.M.Ponnambalam	male	40	Navaly East, Manipay
Mrs.S.Ratnapoopathy	female	66	200 Kasturiar Rd., Jaffna
Mrs.I.Pawalam	female	70	Pannakam, Chankanai
Mrs.S.Suseeladevi	female	43	ICRC Jaffna
Mrs.V.Sellammah	female	34	Kaaduppulam, Chulipuram
Mr.Veerasingam	male	43	Muthaliyar kovilady, Manipay
Mr.S.Jeyabalan	male	50	Pulawar veethy, Kalviyangkaadu
Mr.N.Saravanamuththu	male	60	Kaddudai, Manipay
Mr.K.Pathmanathan	male	24	Near Ponnammah Mill Jaffna
Mrs.K.Revathy	female	36	Murugan kovilady, Navaly