Sri Lanka's long running conflict has pitted government forces against Tamil Tiger rebels [EPA]

Though picturesque, the island-country of Sri Lanka has been blighted by a long-running conflict between government forces and armed Tamil rebels. Thousands have died and many more have been made homeless by the unremitting violence. Below is a guide to some of the key events:

1948: Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, gains independence from British rule. Ethnic Tamils feel disenfranchised by the so-called "Citizenship Act" which denied citizenship to Tamils and their descendents brought by the British from India to work on tea plantations.

1956: Solomon Bandaranyake, then prime minister, enacts a law making Sinhala the only official language of Sri Lanka, alienating the Tamils. Peaceful protests by Tamils are broken up by a Sinhala mob and riots follow.

1957/65: Pacts are signed between the government and the Tamils giving them a measure of regional autonomy and freedoms in language and education, but the agreements remain largely on paper.

1970: New constitution makes enshrines earlier law making Sinhala Sri Lanka's official language and makes Buddhism the country's official religion, further alienating Tamils who are mainly Hindus and Christians.

1972: Ceylon becomes a Republic and is officially renamed the Republic of Sri Lanka. Velupillai Prabhakaran forms the Tamil New Tigers group to set up a separate homeland - the Tamil Eelam.

1975: Tamil New Tigers re-named Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

1978: LTTE proscribed as an illegal organisation.
 
1981: Riots in Jafna. A state of emergency is declared.

1983: First guerrilla-style ambush by LTTE kills 13 soldiers. Rioting erupts killing hundreds of people. About 150,000 Tamil refugees flee to India where Tamil military training camps are established.

1987: Indian government cracks down on armed Tamil groups in India.
First suicide attack by LTTE kills 40. Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord signed and India agrees to deploy peackeepers -the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), which quickly gets drawn into the civil war.

1990: IPKF withdraws from Sri Lanka. LTTE becomes the prominent Tamil armed group. Over 100,000 Muslims are expelled from LTTE dominated areas, many with just two hours notice.

1991: Rajiv Gandhi, then Indian prime minister, is assassinated by a female LTTE suicide bomber.

1993: Ranasinghe Premadasa, then president of Sri Lanka, is killed in a LTTE suicide bomb attack.

1999: Chandrika Kumaratunge, a former prime minister and later the first female president of Sri Lanka, is wounded in an assassination attempt during an election rally.
 
2002: Norway-brokered ceasefire between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government comes into effect. It holds for five years despite many incursions from both sides. Road linking Jaffna peninsula and the rest of Sri Lanka opens after 12 years.

2004: LTTE splits. Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, aka Colonel Karuna, commander for the Batticaloa-Amparai, breaks from the LTTE forming a pro-government outfit.

2005: Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE sign Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-Toms) by which the two entities agreed to work together to offer relief to the communities devastated by the Asian Tsunami. Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan foreign minister, is assassinated by the LTTE.
 
2007: After weeks of heavy fighting, the Sri Lankan army takes back the LTTE-held town of Vakarai. LTTE air force attacks various Sri Lankan targets including Colombo airport. SP Thamilselvan, leader of the LTTE's political wing, is killed in an air raid.

2008: The Sri Lankan government formally withdraws from ceasefire with the LTTE and renewed fighting erupts. Amid attacks and counter-attacks, Sri Lankan forces seem to gradually gain the upper hand. The government claims its forces are close to seizing Kilinochchi, the Tamil Tigers' political hub. Fiighting continues.

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto: