The Palliyagodella massacre was carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) against the mostly Muslim population of the Palliyagodella village located on border region of the northern part of Sri Lanka that were controlled by the Tigers at the time.

Village eyewitnesses claim that some 285 men, women and children, around a third of the population, were killed by a 1,000 strong force of the Tamil Tigers;[1] however, the Sri Lankan government states that the LTTE massacred 166 to 171.

The Palliyagodella villagers had asked the Sri Lankan military for protection from LTTE extortion.

The Sri Lankan forces issued shotguns to the Muslim villagers but these were inadequate to beat off LTTE attacks.

The LTTE threw grenades into mosques killing around 40 people and slaughtered another more with machetes and guns.