Sri Lankan Government Forces Close in on Tamil Rebels

Strategic Insights -

Fierce fighting between the Sri Lankan government forces and the Tamil Tigers has brought the rebels to the brink of collapse. The Tamil Tigers, one of the world's most sophisticated insurgencies, have been fighting for a separate homeland for over a quarter-century. Thousands of civilians have been trapped in the war zone, with reports of thousands of wounded and slain civilians lying strewn across the area. Despite the government's claims of victory, rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is still at large, raising concerns of renewed guerrilla warfare.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Tamil Tigers have admitted defeat in their quarter-century war for a separate homeland, but rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is still at large.
  • Thousands of civilians have been trapped in the war zone, with reports of thousands of wounded and slain civilians lying across the area.
  • The government claims to have surrounded the remaining rebels in a 0.4-square-mile patch of land, but fighting continues with suicide bombs and other attacks.
  • Rights groups have accused both the rebels and the government of committing human rights abuses, including holding civilians as human shields and shelling populated areas.
  • The rebels have been fighting since 1983 for a separate state for Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil minority, resulting in over 70,000 deaths.
  • The Tamil Tigers once controlled a shadow state complete with courts, police, and a tax system across a wide swath of the north.
  • The group has been accused of carrying out hundreds of suicide attacks, including the 1991 assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Statistics:

  • 63,000 civilians have been trapped in the war zone in the past 72 hours, according to military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara.
  • Over 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting since 1983.
  • The Tamil Tigers controlled 5,400 square miles, nearly one-fifth of the Indian Ocean island nation, at their height.
  • The rebels had a conventional army complete with artillery batteries, a large navy, and even a nascent air force.
  • The Tamil Tigers had an estimated $200 million to $300 million a year in funding from smuggling, fraud, and appeals to Tamil expatriates.

Sources:

  • The Associated Press
  • Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara, military spokesman
  • Selvarasa Pathmanathan, rebel official
  • Anura Yapa, Media Minister
  • Health officials in the area
  • Rights groups, accused of holding civilians as human shields and shelling populated areas
  • The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), formally known as the Tamil Tigers