The armed conflict which lasted for almost three decades between the Government Forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was known as the ‘Eelam War’. The conflict broke out in 1983 and concluded in 2009. Today, Sri Lanka marks the 16th anniversary of this event.
During this time span, the war was temporarily stopped thrice due to international pressure to engage in peace negotiations.
Since the mid 1970s there was friction and hostility between the Government and the Tamil militant groups. This started with the 1975 killing of Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappah by the Tamil New Tigers (TNT), which later morphed into the LTTE.
But it was on July 23,1983 that the LTTE launched its first major attack against Sri Lankan Armed Forces. Thirteen soldiers on patrol in Jaffna were killed by the attack. This marked the beginning of a brutal war.
On July 13, 1985 at Thimpu, Bhutan, the first-ever peace talks between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil militants was initiated. Six Tamil groups, namely, the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), LTTE, Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) and Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS) were represented. Ultimately, it proved to be nothing more than a futile attempt as the war resumed shortly.
Vadamarachchi Operation
Through the Vadamarachchi Operation (Operation Liberation), the Sri Lankan military managed to surround the LTTE and corner them in Jaffna by 1987. The end of the conflict seemed imminent at the time.
However, international pressure was brought against Sri Lanka through Tamil Nadu, where training camps for the militants existed at one time. The request extended by the Indian Government to cease the war was not received favourably in Sri Lanka.
In retaliation, Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi deployed a fleet of ships. The Sri Lanka Navy prevented this convoy from reaching the Tigers and subsequently, the Indian Air Force (IAF) airdropped supplies to the North.
As further involvement of the Indian military forces was becoming apparent, President J. R. Jayewardene initiated discussions with the Indian Government with the intention of reconciling previous disputes. An outcome of this discussion was the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord on July 29, 1987 by President Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. In accordance with this agreement, Sri Lankan troops and the LTTE had to withdraw from the North and allow the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to take control of the area. Sri Lanka also agreed to include a 13th Amendment to the Constitution to set up Provincial Councils to devolve power.
The presence of IPKF troops was not favoured by Sri Lankans at large. When President Ranasinghe Premadasa was elected in 1989, his decisions led to the removal of the IPKF within one year. Also, the LTTE convinced the Premadasa regime that the IPKF should be sent back. India troops were desperately looking forward to get back home after almost three years of fighting, instead of peace keeping.
About 1,200 Indian soldiers were killed and 2,900 were wounded in the Jaffna peninsula. India accommodated President Premadasa’s request and withdrew the IPKF. The last batch of Indian troops left from the Port of Trincomalee on March 30, 1990. The Tigers then finally achieved their aim of getting full dominance of the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.
During the course of peace negotiations, although the initial stages seemed somewhat amicable, there were no significant decisions made on issues such as the dissolution of the Provincial Councils of the North and the East, which were established as a direct result of the 13th Amendment.
Second phase of the armed conflict
The second phase of the armed conflict between the Armed Forces and the LTTE was referred to as Eelam War II. The failure of peace negotiations between President Premadasa and the LTTE led to the recommencement of the war in 1990. The LTTE massacred 600 Sinhalese and Muslim police personnel when they surrendered to the LTTE as ordered by the Government on June 10, 1990.
In October of the same year, the Tigers forcibly evicted approximately 28,000 Muslims from their homes in the Northern Province within 48 hours.
At the time, Sri Lankan forces were confined to military camps. There was no active warfare between the Government and the Tamil Tigers as the peace negotiations were in progress. The attack on policemen led to the calling off of peace talks and a week later, the then Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne announced the commencement of Eelam War II in Parliament. The Government forces lost a substantial area of territory due to LTTE attacks including camps. The Tigers blocked land access to the Jaffna peninsula and by July of 1990, they gained control over most areas in the North and the East.
The People’s Alliance Government came into power in August 1994. The new Government started negotiations with the LTTE and a ceasefire was declared on January 8, 1995. The third phase of the armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE, Eelam War III started in 1995 after a 100- day ceasefire period, when the LTTE attacked two Navy ships anchored at Trincomalee.
Eelam War III marked the upsurge of LTTE forces and a decline of the Sri Lankan military. The LTTE gradually evolved to a formidable fighting force during the period. They used shoulder launched anti-aircraft missiles and attacked Sri Lanka Air Force and private aircraft flying over the Jaffna Peninsula.
Though military forces recaptured the Jaffna Peninsula during this period (1995), they suffered many major military debacles having major camps in Pooneryn and Mullaitivu coming under heavy attack.
Peace talks
Parliamentary elections were held in 2001 and it resulted in the victory of the United National Party led by Ranil Wickremesinghe. After winning the election, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe with Norwegian mediation tried to bring this conflict to a settlement through peace talks.
In December 2001, with Norwegian mediation, the LTTE and the Government agreed to cease attacks on each other and a Ceasefire Agreement was signed.
The fourth phase of the armed conflict between the Sri Lankan Military and the LTTE, Eelam War IV began in July 2006. The battle began in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka when the Tigers blocked the water supply to paddy fields in Mavil Aru in Trincomalee. Subsequent to combatting for almost a year, Sri Lankan troops gained total control of the East after capturing Thoppigala on July 11, 2007.
In Eelam War IV, major battles broke out in Sampur, Vakarai and Thoppigala. Civilians living in these areas attempted to flee to secure areas, but the LTTE tried to stop this. According to records from the World Health Organization (WHO), many civilians were displaced in the course of these battles.
The Government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa had then directed the Security Forces to regain all the areas controlled by the LTTE. The Forces advanced through LTTE-held territory and the last stage of the war broke out around the vicinity of the Nandikadal Lagoon in 2009 and nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians were trapped in this area as the LTTE did not allow them to flee to safer grounds.
Eelam War IV ended on May 18, 2009 as Government forces recaptured the last LTTE-dominated territory and killed their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. However, the Government’s claim of “Zero civilian casualties” was disputed by the international community and Sri Lanka still faces scrutiny at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) over these allegations.
Successive Governments have maintained the position that wartime human rights and accountability concerns are being addressed through domestic judicial mechanisms whereas the international community has called for an international investigation. However, normality and democracy have since returned to the North.
