Eelam War II refers to the second phase of the armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

, lasting from June 1990 to 1995. The war erupted after the breakdown of peace talks between the LTTE and the government of President

Ranasinghe Premadasa Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa ( ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa''; ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was a Sri Lankan politician and statesman who served as the third President of Sri Lanka from 2 January 1989 unt ...

, during which mutual distrust and provocations escalated tensions.

Military operations

The Eelam War II, saw the LTTE shifting to

conventional warfare Conventional warfare is a form of warfare conducted by using conventional weapons and battlefield tactics between two or more sovereign state, states in open confrontation. The forces on each side are well-defined and fight by using weapons that ...

tactics with the deployment of large groups of soldiers to first attack isolated

Sri Lanka Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; ...

detachments of platoon or company strength in the Northern Province such as Kokavil in June and July 1990 where it overran the detachment; Mullaitivu September 1990 which was relieved by Operation Sea Breeze the first amphibious operation launched by the Sri Lankan military; while it kept the army garrison at the Jaffna Fort besieged until it was broken by

Operation Thrividha Balaya Operation Thrividha Balaya was a combined military operation, the first of its kind, launched by the Sri Lankan Military in Jaffna. The operation was carried out to break the siege of the Sri Lanka Army garrison of the old Netherlands, Dutch J ...

in September 1990. A major change in LTTE tactics came in the First Battle of Elephant Pass in which the LTTE besieged the army garrison of a full battalion strength at the strategic Elephant Pass from 10 July to 9 August 1991 until a relief force that had been led from the sea under Operation Balavegaya broke the siege. Casualties were high and the LTTE had deployed a large force of 5,000 cadres to lay siege to the army base and stop the relief force. LTTE continued to engage the army in small skirmishes and ambushes. The army also launched several limited operations with the aim of drawing out and killing LTTE carders. In August 1992, the military lost several of its senior leaders in a landmine explosion Araly point which killed Major General Denzil Kobbekaduwa and Brigadier Vijaya Wimalaratne, both charismatic field commanders, followed by the assassination of the head of the navy Vice Admiral Clancy Fernando in Colombo by a suicide bomber. In 1993, Sri Lankan President

was assassinated by a LTTE suicide bomber on

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

and LTTE was able to launch two major attacks on army detachments in the Battle of Janakapura and the Battle of Pooneryn, which resulted in major loss of life and equipment for the army.

Civilian killings

Massacre of police officers

In June 1990, the LTTE eastern cadres, led by then-LTTE Eastern commander Karuna Amman, killed 774 police officers stationed in the Eastern province, after they had surrendered to the LTTE.

Palliyagodella massacre

On 15 October 1992, the

(LTTE) launched an attack on the Muslim village of Palliyagodella in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

's Polonnaruwa District. Approximately 200–300 LTTE cadres, including female fighters and child soldiers, assaulted the village in the early hours, killing between 109 and 285 civilians. The massacre was reportedly in retaliation for the villagers' cooperation with government forces, including their participation in the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...

and resistance to LTTE extortion. Despite prior requests for protection, the villagers were inadequately armed with shotguns provided by the military, which proved ineffective against the LTTE's assault. The attackers used grenades, machetes, and firearms, targeting mosques and homes, resulting in the deaths of men, women, and children, including pregnant women. The massacre ceased only with the arrival of army helicopters. This atrocity stood as one of the most severe attacks on Muslim civilians during Sri Lanka's civil conflict.

1990 Batticaloa massacre

The 1990 Batticaloa massacre, also known as the Sathurukondan massacre, was a

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

of at least 184 Tamil refugees from three villages in the Batticaloa District by the Sri Lankan Army on September 9, 1990. According to the Special Presidential Commission of inquiry appointed by the People's Alliance government, 5 infants, 42 children under the age of ten, 85 women and 28 old persons were among the 184 villagers who were murdered. Three captains of the Sri Lankan Army were identified as the culprits.

1991 Kokkadichcholai massacre

On June 12, 1991, following a LTTE landmine attack on the Sri Lankan Army, 152 Tamil civilians were massacred by members of the Sri Lankan Army in the village Kokkadichcholai near the eastern province town of

Batticaloa Batticaloa (, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu'', ; , ''Maḍakalapuwa'', ) is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the Batticaloa District. The city is the seat of the Eastern Univers ...

. Locals also reported that six Tamil women were raped, including two sisters.

References

{{Sri Lankan Civil War Phases of the Sri Lankan civil war 1990s in Sri Lanka 1990s conflicts Counterterrorism in Sri Lanka Guerrilla wars Tamil Eelam History of Sri Lanka (1948–present) Military history of Sri Lanka 1990 in Sri Lanka 1991 in Sri Lanka 1992 in Sri Lanka 1993 in Sri Lanka 1994 in Sri Lanka 1995 in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan civil war