| Name
/ Title |
Thiruvenkadam VELUPILLAI PRABHAKARAN |
| Date of
Birth |
November 26, 1954 |
| Date of
Death |
May 18, 2009 |
| Identity |
Founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers). |
| General |
- LTTE sought to create an independent Tamil state
in the north and east of Sri Lanka.
- For over 25 years, the LTTE waged a violent secessionist
campaign in Sri Lanka that led to it being designated a
terrorist organization by 32 countries.
- Founded in 1976, the LTTE rocketed to prominence in 1983
after they ambushed a patrol of the Sri
Lanka Army outside Jaffna, resulting in the deaths
of 13 soldiers.
- This ambush, along with the subsequent rioting which
resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Tamil civilians, is
generally considered the start of the Sri Lankan
Civil War.
- After years of fighting, the conflict was halted after
international mediation in 2001.
- By then, the Tamil Tigers controlled large swaths of
land in the north and east of the country, running
virtually a mini-state with Prabhakran serving as
its unquestioned leader.
- Peace talks eventually broke down, and the Sri Lanka
Army launched a military campaign to defeat
the Tamil Tigers in 2006.
- Prabhakaran was killed in fighting
with the Army on May 18, 2009.
- His death brought an immediate end to the Civil
War.
|
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