Sri Lanka: Tamil Tigers examine their weapons during fighting against Sri Lankan government soldiers in the village of Akkaraayan in the rebel-held district of Vanni (Wanni) region, 2008. (Photo: LTTE)

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.

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