The Mahawilachchiya massacre is an incident, where a group of four ethnic Sinhalese

Sinhalese people

The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...

 rice farmers, including a woman found dead with gunshot wounds on November 26, 2007 in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

. Incident occurred at the village of Mahawilachchiya in the Anuradhapura District

Anuradhapura District

Anuradhapura is a district in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its area is 7,179 km².-Demographics:The population according to 2001 census is 745,693 of which 90.7 % are sinhalese, 8.3 % Sri Lankan Moors, 0.7 % native Sri Lankan tamils and 0.1 % tamils of Indian origin...

, 245 km from the island's capital Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

 and this was attributed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...

 also known as Tamil Tigers which is proscribed

Proscription

Proscription is a term used for the public identification and official condemnation of enemies of the state. It is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a "decree of condemnation to death or banishment" and is a heavily politically charged word, frequently used to refer to state-approved...

 as a terrorist organisation by 32 countries (see list).

Victims

All the victims were working at their paddy fields when allegedly a group of LTTE cadres appeared and start shooting at them. In all 3 men and 1 woman were massacred and their gunshot-riddled bodies were later discovered by the security forces.

Aftermath

After the incident the government is to declare the area, as a ‘special security zone’ and will also set up a new army complex in Wilpattu, a defence official said. Defense sources further believes,this as an LTTE genocide attempt to cause fear among the villagers forcing them to flee their traditional landshttp://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/11/30/news/01.asp. LTTE had carried out many similar attack on Sinhalese and Muslims civilians in the past, as a result thousands of civilians lost their lives. Methods of killings were ranging from simply hacking, as in the case of Kent and Dollar Farm massacres

Kent and Dollar Farm massacres

The Kent and Dollar Farm massacres was one of the earliest massacres of Sinhalese civilians carried out by the LTTE during the Sri Lankan Civil War...

 and Gonagala massacre

Gonagala massacre

The Gongala Massacre was a massacre that occurred on September 18, 1999, in the small village of Gonagala, located in the Ampara District of Sri Lanka. According to reports, over 50 men, women and children were hacked to death in the middle of the night...

 to shooting indiscriminately as in the Anuradhapura massacre

Anuradhapura massacre

The Anuradhapura massacre occurred in Sri Lanka in 1985 and was carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This was the largest massacre of Sinhalese civilians by the LTTE to date; it was also the first major operation carried out by the LTTE outside a Tamil majority area.-Incident:The...

.

Related incidents

Some of the related LTTE attacks on civilians between 1984 and 2006 include the

• Kebithigollewa massacre
  Kebithigollewa massacre
  The Kebithigollewa massacre occurred on June 15, 2006 when 60 people were killed as a result of claymore attack on a bus. The U.S and the SLMM claimed that LTTE was the perpetrator. However, LTTE claimed that they did not perpetrate this attack.- Incident :...
  
    - 62 Sinhalese civilians died
• Anuradhapura massacre
  Anuradhapura massacre
  The Anuradhapura massacre occurred in Sri Lanka in 1985 and was carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This was the largest massacre of Sinhalese civilians by the LTTE to date; it was also the first major operation carried out by the LTTE outside a Tamil majority area.-Incident:The...
  
    - 146 Sinhalese civilians died
• October 1995 Eastern Sri Lanka Massacres
  October 1995 Eastern Sri Lanka massacres
  The October 1995 massacres were carried out by the LTTE, an organization which has been banned in 33 countries including the US, Australia, EU, India and Canada due to its terrorist activities....
  
    - 120 Sinhalese civilians died
• Kallarawa massacre
  Kallarawa massacre
  The Kallarawa massacre was carried out by the LTTE, an organization which has been banned in 32 countries including the US, Australia, EU, India and Canada due to its terrorist activities....
  
    - 42 Sinhalese civilians died
• Dehiwala train bombing  - 56 Sinhalese civilians died
• Palliyagodella massacre
  Palliyagodella massacre
  The Palliyagodella massacre was carried out by the LTTE, an organization which has been banned in 33 countries including the US, Australia, EU, India and Canada due to its terrorist activities...
  
    - 166 Muslim Civilians died
• Central Bank Bombing
  Central Bank Bombing
  The Central Bank bombing was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks carried out by the LTTE during the Separatist civil war in Sri Lanka between the government and the Tamil Tigers.The attack took place on January 31, 1996, Sri Lankan city of Colombo...
  
    - 102 civilians died
• Kent and Dollar Farm massacres
  Kent and Dollar Farm massacres
  The Kent and Dollar Farm massacres was one of the earliest massacres of Sinhalese civilians carried out by the LTTE during the Sri Lankan Civil War...
  
    - 52 Sinhalese civilians died
• Kokilai massacre
  Kokilai massacre
  The Kokilai massacre was carried out by the LTTE, an organization which has been banned in 33 countries including the US, Australia, EU, India and Canada due to its terrorist activities...
  
    - 11 Sinhalese civilians died
• List of attacks attributed to the LTTE