The Sri Lankan civil war was a long armed conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who fought for an independent Tamil state in the north and east of the island. It grew out of decades of tension between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority over language, representation and land, and it erupted fully after anti-Tamil riots in July 1983. The fighting combined conventional battles, guerrilla warfare and suicide attacks, and it drew in India, which sent a peacekeeping force in the late 1980s. Several ceasefires and peace efforts, including a Norwegian-brokered process in the early 2000s, collapsed. The government's final offensive in 2009 destroyed the movement's territory and most of its leadership, but it came at a heavy civilian cost, and allegations of war crimes against both sides remain disputed.
Before and after
- 19 June 1983Construction of BC Place
- 21 June 1983Birth of Edward Snowden
- 15 July 1983Orly Airport attack
- from 23 July 1983 to 29 July 1987Eelam War I
- from 23 July 1983 to 18 May 2009Sri Lankan civil war
- 6 August 1983Birth of Robin van Persie
- 1 September 1983Korean Air Lines Flight 007 crash
- 14 September 1983Birth of Amy Winehouse
- 27 September 1983Creation of GNU
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 6 October 1973 to 26 October 1973Yom Kippur War
- from 22 September 1980 to 20 August 1988Iran–Iraq War
- from 2 April 1982 to 14 June 1982Falklands War
- 3 November 20202020 United States presidential election
- 7 October 2023Gaza genocide
- 5 November 20242024 United States presidential election
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.