The Sri Lankan civil war was a civil war fought in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009. Beginning on 23 July 1983, it was an intermittent insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam led by Velupillai Prabhakaran. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lanka government.
The Tamil Eelam Air Force or Sky Tigers was the air service branch of the Divisions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who used it against the Government of Sri Lanka. They also called themselves the Tamileelam Air Force (TAF). Though the existence of the Sky Tigers had been the subject of speculation for many years, the existence of the wing was only revealed after an attack in March 2007, during Eelam War IV.
Eelam War III is the name given to the third phase of armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Eelam War IV is the name given to the fourth and final phase of armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Renewed hostilities began on the 26 July 2006, when Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets bombed several LTTE camps around Mavil Aru anicut. The government's casus belli was that the LTTE had cut off the water supply to surrounding paddy fields in the area. Shutting down the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru on July 21 depriving the water to over 15,000 people - Sinhalese and Muslim settlers under Sri Lankan state-sponsored colonisation schemes in Trincomalee district. They were denied of water for drinking and also cultivating over 30,000 acres of paddy and other crops. The fighting resumed after a four-year ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and LTTE. Continued fighting led to several territorial gains for the Sri Lankan Army, including the capture of Sampur, Vakarai and other parts of the east. The war took on an added dimension when the LTTE Air Tigers bombed Katunayake airbase on March 26, 2007, the first rebel air attack without external assistance in history.
The Battle of Mullaitivu, also known as the First Battle of Mullaitivu and codenamed Operation Unceasing Waves-1, was a battle between the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan military during the Sri Lankan Civil War for control of the military base in Mullaitivu in north-eastern Sri Lanka.
The Second Battle of Elephant Pass, was fought in April 2000 for the control of the Sri Lankan military base in Elephant Pass, Jaffna.
The Battle of Jaffna was fought in two phases in August and October 2006 for the Jaffna peninsula. It was the fourth battle for the peninsula since the start of the Sri Lankan civil war.
The Battle of Pooneryn took place between the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan military during the Sri Lankan Civil War for control of the military base in Pooneryn in northern Sri Lanka from 11 November to 14 November 1993.
The Battle of Kilinochchi occurred in September 1998 over the control of the city of Kilinochchi in Sri Lanka. The battle was fought between the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The Northern Theatre of Eelam War IV refers to the fighting that took place in the northern province of Sri Lanka between July 2006 and May 18, 2009.
The Nagarcoil Forward Defence Line was an Army Forward Defence Line (FDL) that separated Sri Lankan Army and LTTE militia in Northeastern Kilinochchi - Southeastern Jaffna border.
The 2008–2009 SLA Northern offensive was an armed conflict in the northern Province of Sri Lanka between the military of Sri Lanka and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The battle began with a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive attempting to break through the LTTE defence lines in the north of the island, aiming to conclude the country's 25-year-old civil war by military victory.
Operation Jayasikurui, was a Sri Lankan military operation launched on 13 May 1997, it lasted until 1999, when it was called off. The operation was initially launched for 6 months but cancelled after 18 months as Sri Lankan government faced huge loss. It was the largest military operation undertaken by the armed forces at the time.
Brigadier Balraj was a senior commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Velayuthapillai Baheerathakumar was a leading member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka. He played a leading role in the LTTE's military victories in the Vanni during Eelam War III, including Mullaitivu (1996), Kilinochchi (1998), Oddusuddan (1999) and Elephant Pass (2000). He was killed at the Battle of Ananthapuram in the last days of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
The Charles Antony Special Regiment, was a commando unit and the first conventional fighting formation created by the LTTE. It was founded on 10 April 1991, and was initially trained under the leadership of Brigadier Balraj. It was the oldest and one of the most highly trained infantry units of the Tamil Tigers with its own military academies, research units and defence colleges for its officer corps. The soldiers in the unit all hailed from villages in the Northern Province. The brigade made history during the Second Battle of Elephant Pass when it became the first non-state military regiment to defeat an entire infantry division in a conventional battle. Military analysts say that with the fall of Elephant pass, the Charles Anthony Special Regiment established the LTTE as the only non-state military force in the world capable of such complex manoeuvre war fighting. The Elephant pass base was described as "impregnable" by a US army officer who visited the garrison months before its fall in April 2000 By October 2003, the regiment had lost 14 commanding officers and 1056 soldiers. The regiment was named after the LTTE's first military commander and a close associate to LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, Charles Lucas Anthony(Lt.Seelan). Lt.Seelan led the first ever attack on the Sri Lankan army by any Tamil militant group on 15 October 1981 when the LTTE ambushed an army jeep driving down the KKS Road in Jaffna, killing 2 soldiers.
The Jeyanthan Regiment was an elite infantry formation of the LTTE. It was founded on 3 May 1993 and was initially trained under the leadership of Colonel Karuna Amman. It was the second oldest and most feared infantry unit of the Tamil Tigers. According to LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Sri Lanka Armed Forces feared the Jeyanthan Brigade the most and sought to avoid direct clashes with them. The soldiers in the unit all hailed from villages in the Eastern Province. Unlike the Charles Anthony Brigade which was only deployed in the North, the Jeyanthan Brigade was deployed in the East as well as the North and played an important role during Second Battle of Elephant Pass. The regiment was named after the LTTE's first Eastern Sea Black Tiger, Captain Jeyanthan, who destroyed a Sri Lankan Naval Patrol Vessel off the coast of Point Pedro on 4 May 1991. Prabhakaran inaugurated the unit on the 2nd death anniversary of Captain Jeyanthan in 1993.
The Battle of Kilinochchi was a land battle fought between the Sri Lankan Military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for control of the town of Kilinochchi in the Northern Theatre of Eelam War IV during the Sri Lankan civil war between November 2008 and January 2009. The town of Kilinochchi was the administrative center and de facto capital of the LTTE's proposed state of Tamil Eelam.
Divisions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam refers to the military, intelligence and overseas divisions the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Most of these divisions were destroyed during the Eelam War IV, and only parts of the intelligence and financing divisions remain overseas.
