The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) saw its origins in 1972 when Vellupillai Prabhakaran formed the ‘Tamil New Tigers’ as a reaction against the perceived discrimination of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
The LTTE which assumed this name on May 5, 1976,from Vellupillai Prabhakaran’s ‘Tamil New Tigers’ emerged as the most prominent among them.
Support for the LTTE increased dramatically following the killing of thirteen government soldiers in 1983.
This incident provoked widespread anti-Tamil riot throughput Sinhala-majority areas in the island, including in the capital city, Colombo. Estimates for the number of Tamils killed by Sinhala mobs rages between 350 to 2000 depending on the source.
LTTE managed to wrestle the northern Jaffna region from state control and to run a de facto government for nearly a decade beginning in the mid 1980s.
The LTTE enjoyed material and moral support from Tamil Nadu State in India, this support ended when the Indian government sent in its Indian Peacekeeping Force upon official Si Lankan request in 1987.
India proscribed the LTTE as a terrorist group in 1992after India Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed by an LTTE suicide bomber on 21 May 1991.
History and origin of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
