ABSTRACT
The history of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka is the history of radicalised Sri Lankan Tamil youth resorting to arms due to the failure of moderate politics. At the height of the Tamil insurgency in the mid-1980s there were five major and nearly 30 splinter militant groups, prominent among them being the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In 1994, the new government under Chandrika Kumaratunga initiated talks with the LTTE based on a comprehensive devolution package. The principal internal and external actors in the Sri Lankan armed conflict include the Sri Lankan security forces, the LTTE, non-LTTE Tamil groups, India, Norway, United States, Japan, and the European Union. The security forces of Sri Lanka include its army, navy, air force, police and paramilitary forces. Founded by Vellupillai Prabhakaran on 5 March 1976, the main aim of the LTTE was to establish a separate Tamil nation via armed struggle.
