In the early 1970s, Tamils were dissatisfied with some laws promulgated by the Sinhalese-led government. 65,438+0,976,65,438+0.8 Tamil political parties formed the United Liberation Front, demanding autonomy in the eastern and northern regions where Tamils live. Some militants later split to form the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and the Jaffna Peninsula in the north was
1In July, 1983, LTTE members killed 13 government soldiers in Jaffna Peninsula, and then Sinhalese retaliated against Tamils in Colombo, the capital, causing a large-scale riot, and then war broke out between government troops and LTTE. LTTE resorted to violent means to try to establish an independent Tamil state in the east and north of Sri Lanka. They opposed the Sri Lanka-India peace agreement and demanded that India withdraw its troops. Its main equipment includes main battle tanks, armored transport vehicles, long-range artillery, air defense missiles and patrol gunboats. Hei Hu Death Squad is the main part of LTTE, which specializes in intelligence gathering and special operations. LTTE is strict with its members. They are not allowed to smoke and drink, and they are not allowed to get married privately. Usually, women can get married after 24 years old, and men can get married after 28 years old. LTTE has more than 5,000 members, about half of whom are women. They are unpaid and completely voluntary. In order not to be captured alive, every LTTE member carries cyanide capsules for suicide, which is the main feature that distinguishes this organization from other organizations in the world.
199 1 year and 1997, India and the United States respectively characterized the organization as a terrorist organization.
199811October, LTTE tried to blow up the famous Buddha's tooth temple in Kandy, the ancient capital, so the Sri Lankan government declared LTTE an illegal organization.
In March 2006, Britain also declared LTTE a terrorist organization.
Since July 1983, LTTE members have killed 13 government soldiers, thus triggering a civil war that lasted for many years. According to Sri Lankan military statistics, the civil war that lasted for 19 years caused at least 60,000 deaths, and180,000 people were displaced, which seriously damaged the national infrastructure and seriously affected the overall economic development of Sri Lanka.
Over the years, although both sides of the conflict are striving for peace talks and a ceasefire, the conflict between the two ethnic groups has been escalating. Starting from 1999, the Norwegian government began mediation. On June 27th, 2000, prabhakaran, leader of 165438+LTTE, proposed the unconditional resumption of peace talks and a unilateral ceasefire with the government, but the Sri Lankan government announced that it would hold peace talks with LTTE without a ceasefire. 200 1,1February, the new government of Wickremasinghe actively responded to the unilateral ceasefire of LTTE, and at the same time took measures including relaxing the economic embargo on the areas controlled by LTTE and lifting the restrictions on citizens' travel to the north, which created favorable conditions for the realization of a permanent ceasefire. In February 2002, under the mediation of Norway, LTTE and the Sri Lankan government finally signed a permanent ceasefire agreement in Stockholm. On September 4 of that year, the Sri Lankan government lifted the ban on LTTE and made it a legal organization. From September 16 to September 18, 2002, the Sri Lankan government and LTTE held the historic first peace talks at the naval base in Seautois, Li Wu Province, southeast Thailand. The two sides reached an understanding on maintaining the ceasefire agreement and continuing to advance the peace process. On February 5th, 65438, during the third round of peace talks in Oslo, Norway, the two sides agreed to establish a federal state with a high degree of autonomy in Tamil areas. On April 2, 20031day, LTTE announced the suspension of peace talks with the government, but promised to solve the ethnic conflict that lasted for 19 years in the country through political negotiations.
Organization establishment background:
The establishment of LTTE is the result of the intensification of ethnic conflicts in Sri Lanka. Its ethnic contradictions began during the British colonial rule. In Sri Lanka, a multi-ethnic country, Sinhalese people in envelope Buddhism account for about 74% of the national population. Most of them live in the coastal areas of the west and southwest with the most concentrated population and relatively developed economy, as well as in the central mountainous areas, and occupy a dominant position in politics. Hindu Tamils account for about 65,438+08% of the national population, mainly concentrated in Janaf Peninsula and the eastern coastal areas. A considerable part of them were workers recruited by British plantation owners from southern India in the middle of 65,438+09 century. Many of them have no Sri Lankan nationality so far, and their political and social status is relatively low. Historically, the two nations lived in harmony and resisted foreign aggression. Since the invasion of European colonialists in the early16th century, especially during the 150 years of British colonial rule before independence in 1948, British colonialists have pursued the strategy of divide and rule in Sri Lanka, which has caused deep resentment between the two communities.
Since the beginning of 2009, the Sri Lankan government has carried out an unprecedented large-scale military siege on LTTE, and finally trapped the remnants of prabhakaran and LTTE in a narrow area in the Mulaitiu area in northern Sri Lanka.
On May 18, the Sri Lankan government announced that velupillai prabhakaran, the top leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was killed by government forces in northern Sri Lanka that day.