sri lanka a tamil tiger ltte bicycle platoon near kilinochchi may 2004 photo by qz10 cc by sa 30 license the sri lankan civil war began on july 23 1983 and quickly developed into an on and off insurgency against the colombo government by the liberation tigers of tamil eelam ltte commonly known as the tamil tigers and other few rebel groups which were fighting to create an independent tamil state named tamil eelam in the north and the east of the island after a 26 year military campaign the sri lankan military defeated the tamil tigers in may 2009 2b00wfx.jpg from tamil cc View Photo