Cite
MLA
“Vadamarachchi Operation (Operation Liberation).” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/vadamarachchi-operation-1987/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). Vadamarachchi Operation (Operation Liberation). Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/vadamarachchi-operation-1987/
The army took Vadamarachchi, including Valvettithurai and Point Pedro, but the offensive was halted after India’s air drop of relief supplies over Jaffna.
01Into Prabhakaran’s home ground
Vadamarachchi is the coastal strip of Jaffna round Point Pedro and Valvettithurai, Prabhakaran’s birthplace and the old smuggling port from which the Tigers ran boats to Tamil Nadu. On 26 May 1987 two brigades under Kobbekaduwa and Wimalaratne broke out from their camps with air and naval support. Within days they held the whole area. Prabhakaran slipped away, and many young men of the area were detained. The army then massed for a push on Jaffna town itself.
02India steps in
As the army prepared to move on Jaffna town, the Indian government, under strong pressure from Tamil Nadu, sent a flotilla of relief boats, which the Sri Lankan navy turned back. On 4 June 1987 Indian Air Force transports escorted by fighters dropped food over Jaffna in Operation Poomalai. Colombo halted the offensive. Seven weeks later Jayewardene signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, and Indian troops landed in the north. The Sri Lankan brigades went back to barracks.
Vadamarachchi brought India into the Sri Lankan war, first with the Poomalai air drop and then with the IPKF.
