- Also called:
- Tamil Tigers
- Date:
- 1976 - 2009
- Areas Of Involvement:
- guerrilla warfare
- nationalism
- terrorism
- suicide bombing
- Tamil
- Related People:
- Velupillai Prabhakaran
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
-
Who were the Tamil Tigers?
The Tamil Tigers, formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), were a guerrilla organization established in 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran. They aimed to create an independent Tamil state called Eelam in northern and eastern Sri Lanka.
Operating from jungle bases in the north and east of Sri Lanka, with support from Tamil Nadu, India, the LTTE became a formidable insurgent group. They engaged in guerrilla attacks, controlled significant territory, and eliminated rival Tamil groups. To fund their activities, the Tamil Tigers resorted to illegal means, including bank robberies and drug smuggling, while also receiving financial support from Tamils abroad.
The Sri Lankan government deployed forces to counter the unrest, leading to anti-Tamil riots and a prolonged conflict. After a major government offensive in 2009, the LTTE's leadership was killed, effectively ending the organization. The civil war resulted in an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 deaths and displaced tens of thousands more.
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Where was the Tamil Tigers organization active?
The Tamil Tigers, formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), were a guerilla organization active primarily in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. They sought to establish an independent Tamil state called Eelam.
Growing tensions between the Ceylon Tamil and the Sinhalese Buddhist majority in Sri Lanka prompted Tamil militants to undertake a guerrilla war against the central government in the 1980s. The LTTE controlled Jaffna and most of the Jaffna Peninsula in northern Sri Lanka by 1985. However, after a major government offensive in 2009, the Tamil Tigers' strongholds were overrun, their leadership was destroyed, and the organization effectively ceased to exist.
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What was the main goal of the Tamil Tigers?
The primary objective of the Tamil Tigers (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE) was to create an independent Tamil state called Eelam in the northern and eastern regions of Sri Lanka. Founded in 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE became a highly organized insurgent group.
The organization engaged in guerrilla attacks, and by 1985, it had control over Jaffna and most of the Jaffna Peninsula in northern Sri Lanka. The LTTE was known for eliminating rival Tamil groups and employing tactics such as suicide attacks carried out by its elite unit, the "Black Tigers". After a series of intense battles, the Sri Lankan government captured the LTTE's last stronghold in May 2009, effectively ending the organization.
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Why did the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government come into conflict?
The conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government arose from escalating tensions between the Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic groups following Sri Lanka's independence. The Tamil Tigers (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE) sought to establish an independent Tamil state called Eelam in northern and eastern Sri Lanka.
Grievances against Sinhalese-dominated governments intensified, leading to the Tamil United Liberation Front's demand for a separate state. Large-scale violence erupted in 1983 after the killing of 13 soldiers by Tamil guerrillas and retaliatory attacks by the Sri Lankan military. The Tigers controlled Jaffna and most of the Jaffna Peninsula by 1985. The Sri Lankan government deployed forces, but the situation worsened after anti-Tamil riots in Colombo and elsewhere in July 1983.
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How did the Tamil Tigers fight for their cause?
The Tamil Tigers (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, LTTE) sought to create an independent Tamil state in northern and eastern Sri Lanka Tamil Tigers.
Established in 1976, the LTTE, under Velupillai Prabhakaran, became a highly organized insurgent group. They initiated guerrilla attacks, gaining control of Jaffna and its peninsula by 1985. The LTTE eliminated rival Tamil groups by 1987. They funded operations through illegal activities, Tamil extortion, and voluntary contributions from Tamils abroad.
The LTTE employed tactics such as guerrilla warfare, terrorist attacks, and suicide bombings, often carried out by their elite "Black Tigers" unit. Facing capture, members often committed suicide via cyanide capsules. After a permanent cease-fire agreement in 2002, fighting again erupted, resulting in the EU listing the LTTE as a banned terrorist organization in 2006 Tamil Tigers.
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What was the outcome of the conflict involving the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka?
The conflict involving the Tamil Tigers (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, LTTE) in Sri Lanka ended in May 2009, when the Sri Lankan army overran the rebels' last stronghold and killed the LTTE leadership, including founder Vellupillai Prabhakaran. From the early 1980s, the civil war resulted in an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 deaths and displaced tens of thousands more. The LTTE, a guerrilla organization, aimed to create an independent Tamil state called Eelam in northern and eastern Sri Lanka.
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Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), guerrilla organization that sought to establish an independent Tamil state, Eelam, in northern and eastern Sri Lanka.
The LTTE was established in 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran as the successor to an organization he had formed earlier in the 1970s. The LTTE grew to become one of the world’s most sophisticated and tightly organized insurgent groups. During the 1970s the organization carried out a number of guerrilla attacks. In 1983, after the killing of 13 soldiers by Tamil guerrillas and retaliatory attacks by the Sri Lankan military, large-scale violence erupted between the government and the LTTE. By 1985 the group was in control of Jaffna and most of the Jaffna Peninsula in northern Sri Lanka. Under Prabhakaran’s orders, the LTTE had eliminated most of its rival Tamil groups by 1987. To fund its operations, the group engaged in illegal activities (including bank robberies and drug smuggling) and the extortion of Tamils in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, but it also received considerable voluntary financial support from Tamils living abroad.
The LTTE lost control of Jaffna in October 1987 to an Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) that had been sent to Sri Lanka to assist in the implementation of a complete cease-fire. However, following the withdrawal of the IPKF in March 1990, the Tigers grew in strength and conducted several successful guerrilla operations and terrorist attacks. On May 21, 1991, a suicide bomber killed former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi while he was campaigning in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Other attacks included an August 1992 land-mine explosion in Jaffna, which killed 10 senior military commanders; the May 1993 assassination of Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa; a January 1996 suicide bomb attack on the central bank of Colombo that killed 100 people; and a July 2001 attack on Colombo’s international airport that destroyed half of the country’s commercial airliners. An elite unit of the LTTE, the “Black Tigers,” was responsible for carrying out suicide attacks. If faced with unavoidable capture by Sri Lankan authorities, those operatives and others purportedly committed suicide by swallowing cyanide capsules that they wore around their necks.
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Negotiations between the LTTE and the government broke down in the mid-1990s. In December 2000 the LTTE declared a unilateral ceasefire, which lasted only until April. Thereafter, fighting between the guerrillas and the government again intensified until February 2002, when the government and the LTTE signed a permanent ceasefire agreement. Sporadic violence continued, however, and in 2006 the European Union added the LTTE to its list of banned terrorist organizations. Soon after, heavy fighting erupted between the rebels and government forces, and thousands were killed.
In January 2008 the government formally abandoned the 2002 ceasefire agreement, and authorities captured major strongholds of the LTTE over the following months. The town of Kilinochchi, the administrative center of the LTTE, came under government control in January 2009. By late April, government troops had cornered the remaining LTTE fighters along a small stretch of the northeast coast. A final offensive by army forces in mid-May succeeded in overrunning and occupying the rebels’ last stronghold, and the LTTE leadership, including Prabhakaran, was killed. The number of civil-war-related deaths in Sri Lanka since the early 1980s was estimated at between 70,000 and 80,000, with many tens of thousands more displaced by the fighting.
The number of LTTE fighters was never determined conclusively, and the figure undoubtedly varied over time as the organization’s fortunes rose and fell. Estimates from various sources range from a few thousand to some 16,000 or more. The highest totals appear to have been during the first years of the 21st century. A United Nations report on Sri Lanka from 2011 listed some 5,800 rehabilitated LTTE fighters.