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Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

"LTTE" redirects here. For letters to the editor, see Letter to the editor.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள்
දෙමළ ඊලාම් විමුක්ති කොටි සංවිධානය
Also known asTamil Tigers; LTTE
LeaderVelupillai Prabhakaran †
Foundation1976
Dates of operation5 May 1976 (1976-05-05)–18 May 2009 (2009-05-18)
CountrySri Lanka
MotivesCreation of an independent state of Tamil Eelam in the Northern Province and the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka
IdeologyTamil nationalism
Left-wing nationalism
Revolutionary socialism
Egalitarianism
Secularism
Anti-imperialism
Separatism
Status
  • Inactive
  • Militarily defeated in May 2009
Size18,000, as of 2004, excluding divisions.[1]
Annual revenueUS$300+ million prior to the military defeat.[2][3]
Means of revenueContributions from Tamil diaspora (mostly voluntary, sometimes coerced), overseas investments[4] and taxation under LTTE-controlled areas.[5]
Battles and warsSri Lankan Civil War
Flag
WebsiteOfficial website (Now defunct)
Preceded by
Tamil New Tigers
Part of a series on
Sri Lankan Tamils
Ancient era
Middle Ages
Colonial
Post independence
Civil war

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; Tamil: தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், romanized: Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, Sinhala: දෙමළ ඊලාම් විමුක්ති කොටි සංවිධානය, romanized: Demaḷa īlām vimukti koṭi saṁvidhānaya; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the northeast of the island[6] in response to violent persecution and discriminatory policies against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan Government.[7]

The leader of the LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran, cited the 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom as one of the factors that led him to militancy. In 1975, he assassinated the Mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiappah, in revenge for the 1974 Tamil conference incident. The LTTE was subsequently founded in 1976 as a reaction to the Sri Lankan Constitution of 1972 which prescribed Buddhism as the primary religion of the country, and Sinhala language its national language.[8][9][10] The LTTE was involved in attacks on government targets, policemen and local politicians and moved on to armed clashes against the armed forces. Oppression against Sri Lankan Tamils continued by Sinhalese mobs, notably during the 1977 anti-Tamil pogrom and the 1981 burning of the Jaffna Public Library. Following the week-long July 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom carried out by Sinhalese mobs, that came to be known as Black July,[11] the LTTE's escalation of intermittent conflict into a full-scale nationalist insurgency began, which started the Sri Lankan Civil War.[12] By this time, the LTTE was widely regarded as the most dominant Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. It also emerged as among the most feared guerrilla forces in the world.[13]

Initially starting out as a guerrilla force, the LTTE increasingly came to resemble conventional armed forces with a well-developed military wing that included a navy, an airborne unit,[14] an intelligence wing, and a specialised suicide attack unit. The LTTE popularised and perfected the use of a suicide vest as a weapon, a tactic now used by many current militant organisations.[15][16][17][18] The LTTE gained notoriety for using women and children in combat[19] and carrying out a number of high-profile assassinations, including former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993. Consequently, the LTTE was designated as a terrorist organisation by 33 countries, including the European Union, Canada, the United States, and India.[20][21]

Over the course of the conflict, the LTTE frequently exchanged control of territory in the north-east with the Sri Lankan military, with the two sides engaging in intense military confrontations. It was involved in four unsuccessful rounds of peace talks with the Sri Lankan government and at its peak in 2000, the LTTE was in control of 76% of the landmass in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.[22] Prabhakaran headed the organisation from its inception until his death in 2009.[23] Between 1983 and 2009, at least 100,000 were killed in the civil war, of which many were Sri Lankan Tamils.[24][25] 800,000 Sri Lankan Tamils also left Sri Lanka for various destinations, including Europe, North America, and Asia.[26]

  1. ^ "Armed Conflicts Database, 2007". Archived from the original on 11 May 2006. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference lakabim was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference icg1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Chalk, Peter (2008). "The Tigers Abroad: How the LTTE Diaspora Supports the Conflict in Sri Lanka". Third World Quarterly. 9 (2): 101. JSTOR 43133783. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  5. ^ Stokke, Kristian (2006). "Building the Tamil Eelam State: Emerging State Institutions and Forms of Governance in LTTE-Controlled Areas in Sri Lanka". Third World Quarterly. 27 (6): 1034. doi:10.1080/01436590600850434. ISSN 0143-6597. JSTOR 4017738. S2CID 45544298. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  6. ^ BBC News, Full text: Tamil Tiger proposals (2003) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3232913.stm Archived 14 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Kingsbury, Damien (27 February 2021). Separatism and the State. Taylor & Francis. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-000-36870-3. Archived from the original on 8 March 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  8. ^ Vukovic, Sinisa (2015). International Multiparty Mediation and Conflict Management. Routledge. ISBN 9781317610724. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  9. ^ Hogan, Patrick Colm (2009). Understanding Indian Movies: Culture, Cognition, and Cinematic imagination. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292779556. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  10. ^ Arena, Michael P.; Arrigo, Bruce A. (1974). The Terrorist Identity: Explaining the Terrorist Threat. NYU Press. ISBN 9780814707593. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.p.189
  11. ^ Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja (1986). Sri Lanka: Ethnic Fratricide and the Dismantling of Democracy. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-78952-7.
  12. ^ "The Tamil Tigers' long fight explained - CNN.com". cnn.com. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  13. ^ "Tamil Tigers may be second richest rebel group worldwide". Livemint. Reuters. 25 July 2007. Archived from the original on 1 July 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Sri Lanka rebels in new air raid". BBC News. BBC News. 29 April 2007. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  15. ^ Grimland, Meytal; Apter, Alan; Kerkhof, Ad (1 May 2006). "The Phenomenon of Suicide Bombing". Crisis. 27 (3): 107–118. doi:10.1027/0227-5910.27.3.107. ISSN 0227-5910. PMID 17091820. S2CID 5979839. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  16. ^ "'The Birthplace of the Suicide Belt.' Sri Lanka's Deadly History of Suicide Bombings". 25 April 2019. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  17. ^ Perry, Alex (12 May 2006). "How Sri Lanka's Rebels Build a Suicide Bomber". Time. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  18. ^ "Sri Lanka is all too familiar with suicide bombing". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  19. ^ "Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam | Mapping Militant Organizations". web.stanford.edu. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  20. ^ Gargan, Edward A. (2 May 1993). "Suicide Bomber Kills President of Sri Lanka". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  21. ^ "Chapter 8 -- Foreign Terrorist Organizations". U.S. Department. 2006. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  22. ^ "Humanitarian Operation Timeline, 1981–2009". Ministry of Defence (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  23. ^ Mark Tran (May 2009). "Prabhakaran's death and fall of LTTE lead to street celebrations in Sri Lanka". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 1 July 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  24. ^ "Sri Lanka's war 10 years on: Finding Father Francis". BBC News. London, U.K. 18 May 2019. Archived from the original on 10 December 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  25. ^ Mahr, Krista (28 November 2013). "Sri Lanka to Start Tally of Civil-War Dead". Time. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2019 – via world.time.com.
  26. ^ Alison, Miranda (21 January 2009). Women and Political Violence: Female Combatants in Ethno-National Conflict. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-22894-2.

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