The Pottuvil massacre was a disputed event in the Sri Lankan civil war. It happened on Monday, 18 September 2006, when 10 unarmed minority Muslim civilians who were engaged in the clearing of a reservoir at Rattal Kulam in Pottuvil in the southern part of the Ampara District in the Eastern Province. All the men were aged between 19-35 three of the men were decapitated and the others shot or hacked to death by the unknown gunmen.