The Nagarkovil school bombing refers to an airstrike that took place on 22 September 1995 when the Sri Lankan Air Force bombed the Nagarkovil Maha Vidyalayam school in Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka, resulting in the death of, by varying accounts, 34-71 Sri Lankan Tamil civilians, primarily schoolchildren, and the injury of many more.[5][6][7][8][3] Sri Lankan Defense spokesman admitted the incident but claimed that it was a LTTE facility and several of the dead were LTTE cadres. The airstrike took place 12 hours after the Sri Lankan government had imposed a press censorship on war-related events.[9][10]
| Nagarkovil school bombing | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Sri Lankan Civil War | |
  | |
| Location | Nagar Kovil, Sri Lanka |
| Coordinates | 9°42′02″N 80°18′31″E / 9.70056°N 80.30861°E |
| Date | September 22, 1995 (+6 GMT) |
| Target | Sri Lankan Tamils |
Attack type | Aerial bombardment |
| Weapons | Bomb |
| Deaths | 71 [1][2] |
| Injured | 150 [3] |
| Perpetrators | Sri Lankan Airforce[4] |
Accounts and reactions
editUniversity Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna)
editAccording to University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR), a Jaffna-based organization, the staff of Nagarkovil Government School noticed bomber activity by the Sri Lanka Air Force around the school the morning of Friday, September 22, 1995. Several children who had come out of school had sheltered under a tree, waiting for the bombers to leave. About 12:45 pm a bomb fell near the tree, instantly killing 39 and injuring others. Some people injured by the bombing later died from their wounds.[11]
Human Rights Watch
editThe 1996 HRW annual country report described "a major offensive on the Jaffna peninsula" by the Sri Lankan government which began on September 22, and which included curbs on war-related reporting by both the domestic and international press. "Among the first stories to be subjected to these censorship requirements were reports that on September 21 and 22, heavy shelling and aerial attacks by government forces on the northern Jaffna region had killed some seventy civilians, including many school children." Human Rights Watch also cited a Reuters report from September 23 that the army had denied the incident and that the story had been "subjected to military censors, who deleted quotes from civilians on the reported deaths of twenty children."[10]
Australian Foreign Ministry
editIn a letter of October 6, 1995, the Australian government expressed a concern about "tragic incidents where non combatant Tamil civilians have been killed in military exchanges," mentioning "the reported deaths of 44 school children when a school was bombed at the village of Nagarkovil on September 22."[12]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Nagarkovil school bombing remembered 20 years on". Tamil Guardian. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ "Nagerkoil School bombed under cover of press censorship - 22 September 1995". Tamil Nation. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Sri Lanka 17 years of humanitarian action" (PDF). Médecins Sans Frontières. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ "Remembering Nagarkovil". Tamil Guardian. 26 September 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1994). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).: House of Commons official report. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 559. ISBN 978-0-10-681264-6. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ Australia. Parliament. House of Representatives (1997). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).: House of Representatives. Commonwealth Government Printer. p. 7323. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ "Nagarkovil school remembers victims of 1995 bombing by Sri Lankan Air Force". Tamil Guardian. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ Clara Tran (12 Oct 2015). "Six years after the end of Sri Lanka's civil war, Tamils in Jaffna still struggling to rebuild their lives". ABC. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ "SRI LANKA:CIVILIAN WELL-BEING IN A TIME OF WAR: A LOST HOPE?". UTHR. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Human Rights Development - Sri Lanka". HRW. Retrieved 2006-01-11.
- ^ "1995 UTHR report". UTHR. Retrieved 2006-01-11.
- ^ "Australian Foreign Ministry to the Swiss Federation of Tamil Associations". Tamilnation. Retrieved 2021-07-08.