Poonakary or Pooneryn (Tamil: பூநகரி, romanized: Pūnakari; Sinhala: පූනෙරිය, romanized: Pūneriya),[1] is a strategically important village situated on the Jaffna Lagoon, directly across from the Jaffna Peninsula in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.

Since 1983, and due to the Civil War, the town was garrisoned by the Sri Lankan Army.

They did however managed to capture equipment such as assault rifles, ammunition, machine guns, mortars and even two T-55 tanks which proved to be vital to their forces.

The town was later evacuated by the Sri Lankan Army due to tactical reasons in 1996.

The LTTE occupied the town and maintained a garrison due to its strategic location.