battle, Cold War

Vadamarachchi Operation

Name: Vadamarachchi Operation
Location: Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Vadamarachchi Operation was a battle fought in 1987 at Jaffna, in what is now Sri Lanka. Its exact site is not recorded; the atlas places it at Jaffna. It was part of the Sri Lankan Civil War, which ran from 1983 to 2009. The recorded result: Phase 1 objective achieved by the Sri Lankan military; Phase 2 aborted due to the Indian intervention. Recorded strength: 4,000 soldiers against 1,200 militants.

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Fought1987

WhereJaffna, Sri Lanka9.665N, 80.017E, placed at the location, approximate

OutcomePhase 1 objective achieved by the Sri Lankan military; Phase 2 aborted due to the Indian intervention

BelligerentsSri LankaagainstLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Casualties and losses33 killed; 182 woundedandUnknown killed

Part ofSri Lankan Civil War1983 to 2009

Where it sits in the Sri Lankan Civil War

7 placed engagements of the Sri Lankan Civil War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date	1987 (year precision) to 1987
Place	Jaffna, Sri Lanka 9.665N, 80.017E
Kind	Battle, Cold War
Strength	4,000 soldiers	1,200 militants
Casualties and losses	33 killed; 182 wounded	Unknown killed
Commanders	Cyril Ranatunga Nalin Seneviratne G. H. De Silva Denzil Kobbekaduwa Vijaya Wimalaratne	Velupillai Prabhakaran Soosai

Placed at Jaffna; the exact site is not recorded. with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Battle of Nelliady 1987, 26 km NE
Battle of Negapatam 1758, 124 km N
Siege of Negapatam 1781, 124 km N
Action of 6 July 1746 1746, 124 km N
Battle of Negapatam 1782, 125 km N

In the same war

Before: Kokkilai offensive 1985
After: Operation Eagle 1990
All 7 engagements of Sri Lankan Civil War

Elsewhere in 1987

Battle of Cuito Cuanavale Angola
Operation Earnest Will United Arab Emirates
Siege of Basra Iraq
Chemical bombing of Sardasht Iran
Operation Prime Chance

Vadamarachchi Operation is one of 4,429 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 30 in present-day Sri Lanka.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q3537767, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Vadamarachchi Operation, revision 1371745897, read 2026-11-15, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.