The Batang Kali massacre was the killing of 24 unarmed villagers by British troops of the Scots Guards on 12 December 1948 during the Malayan Emergency. The incident occurred during counter-insurgency operations against Malay and Chinese communists of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) in Malaya – then a colony of the British Crown. It was described as "Britain's My Lai" in Christopher Hale's Massacre in Malaya: exposing Britain's My Lai. It is notable as seemingly the only massacre perpetrated by British forces during the war, though some other individual killings of civilians did occur; even MNLA propaganda did not mention other massacres, while Batang Kali appeared heavily in propaganda.