A massacre is carried out by Sri Lankan government forces, killing 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF).

On 4 or 5 August 2006, 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger were shot at close range in the city of Muttur, Sri Lanka, close to Trincomalee. The victims included 16 minority Sri Lankan Tamils and one Sri Lankan Muslim. The event became known as the Muttur Massacre.

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian peninsula by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. It shares a maritime border with the Maldives in the southwest, India in the northwest, Andaman and The Nicobar Islands in the northwest, and Myanmar through the Bay of Bengal. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, while the largest city, Colombo, is the administrative and judicial capital which is the nation's political, financial and cultural centre. Kandy is the second-largest urban area and also the capital of the last native kingdom of Sri Lanka. The most spoken language Sinhala, is spoken by the majority of the population. Tamil is also spoken by approximately five million people, making it the second most-spoken language in Sri Lanka.

An international non-governmental organization (INGO) is an organization which is independent of government involvement and extends the concept of a non-governmental organization (NGO) to an international scope. INGOs can admit members affiliated to government authorities as long as it does not interfere with their freedom to express themselves. INGOs operate under the principles of neutrality, humanity, impartiality, and independence. Around the world, there are about 75,000 international organizations and about 42,000 of them are active.