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  • The Sri Lankan Conflict
    By Carin Zissis
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  International Relations and Security Network

  Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Sri Lanka, separatists)

  Updated: January 11, 2008

  • What are the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam?
  • Does the LTTE have ties to al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups?
  • Who are the Tamils?
  • Has the LTTE been active since September 11?
  • What kind of terrorist attacks have the Tigers undertaken?
  • Have the Tigers been suspected of major political assassinations?

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  What are the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam?

  The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is a separatist terrorist group that seeks an independent state in areas in Sri Lanka inhabited by ethnic Tamils. (Eelam means homeland in Tamil.) The LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers, has used conventional, guerrilla, and terror tactics, including some 200 suicide bombings, in a bloody, two-decade-old civil war that has claimed more than 60,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans. The U.S. State Department lists the LTTE as a foreign terrorist organization.

  Does the LTTE have ties to al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups?

  No. Experts say that the secular nationalist LTTE currently has no operational connection with al-Qaeda, its radical Islamist affiliates, or other terrorist groups. However, some of the Tigers’ innovations—such as the “jacket” apparatus worn by individual suicide bombers—have been copied by al-Qaeda, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, and Palestinian groups such as Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

  In its early days, experts say, the LTTE trained with the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the group may still come into contact with other terrorist organizations through the illegal arms trade.

  Who are the Tamils?

  The Tamils are an ethnic group who live in southern India (mainly in the state of Tamil Nadu) and on Sri Lanka , an island of 19 million people off the southern tip of India . Tamils comprise about eighteen percent of the island’s population, and most live in northern and eastern areas. Their religion (most are Hindu) and Tamil language set them apart from the three-quarters of Sri Lankans who are Sinhalese—members of a largely Buddhist, Sinhala-speaking ethnic group. When Sri Lanka was ruled by the British, the Tamil minority was seen to have received preferential treatment. Since Sri Lanka became independent in 1948, the Sinhalese majority has dominated the country. The remainder of Sri Lanka ’s population includes ethnic Muslims as well as Tamil and Sinhalese Christians.

  Has the LTTE been active since September 11?

  While the LTTE was active in the months leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, a lull in violence preceded a February 2002 cease-fire agreement. Later that year, the rebels and the government reached a power-sharing agreement in hopes of achieving a lasting peace. Violence resumed in July 2004 when a suicide bomber strapped explosives to her body in Colombo, killing herself and four policemen. The LTTE claimed the attack was "an operation of some elements who are working to disrupt peace efforts," accusing the military and police of backing a breakaway tiger leader responsible for the suicide bombing. Tensions continued to rise until the December 2004 earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 30,000 people in Sri Lanka and brought a relative state of calm between the rebels and the government. The August 2005 assassination of Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar -- of which the rebels are suspected but deny any involvement -- disrupted the peace and once again put the LTTE at odds with the Sri Lankan government. By July 2006, fighting had reached its worst levels since before the 2002 cease-fire. Hundreds have been killed in the most recent wave of violence, and the United Nations reports tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes. The Sri Lankan government unilaterally pulled out of the 2002 cease-fire agreement in January 2008.

  What kind of terrorist attacks have the Tigers undertaken?

  The LTTE is notorious for its suicide bombings. Since the late 1980s, the group has conducted some 200 suicide bombings—far more than any other terrorist group. LTTE suicide bombers have attacked civilians on mass transit, at Buddhist shrines, and in office buildings. In October 1997, a suicide truck bomb killed eighteen people at the 39-story World Trade Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital.

  Beyond suicide bombings, the LTTE has used conventional bombs against political and civilian targets and has gunned down both Sri Lankan officials and civilians. LTTE fighters wear cyanide capsules around their necks, so they can commit suicide if they are captured.

  Have the Tigers been suspected of major political assassinations?

  Yes. LTTE suicide attacks have been blamed for targeting political leaders in Sri Lanka and India, including:

  • the May 1991 assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at a campaign rally in India;
  • the May 1993 assassination of Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa;
  • the July 1999 assassination of a Sri Lankan member of parliament, Neelan Thiruchelvam, an ethnic Tamil involved in a government-sponsored peace initiative;
  • a pair of December 1999 suicide bombings in Colombo that wounded Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga;
  • the June 2000 assassination of Sri Lankan Industry Minister C.V. Goonaratne;
  • the August 2005 assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar;
  • the January 2008 assassination of a member of parliament from the opposition United National Party (UNP), T. Maheswaran; and
  • the January 2008 assassination of Nation Building Minister D.M.Dassanayake.

   

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