It was the first direct assault on a Sri Lanka military base by a Tamil militant group in the early stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War.

[1] The outpost in the Kokkilai was commanded by Lieutenant Shantha Wijesinghe when it came under attack on the night of 13 February 1985 by a large group of militants.

14 bodies of militants were found outside the camp perimeter dressed in military type uniforms and with night vision glasses.

[2] Ravi Jayewardene, National Security Adviser of then President of Sri Lanka J.R. Jayewardene reported to the National Security Council that the Kokkilai attack was a full-scale armed confrontation and said the Tamil Tigers were becoming a ‘sophisticated enemy.’ It is believed the Tamil Tiger Ranjan Kanagaratnam[3] died in this attack.

Lieutenant Shantha Wijesinghe received a field promotion to captain, the first time in the army’s history.