Sri Lanka's warring factions are divided along ethnic lines. The majority of the Sri Lankan population is Sinhalese and have resided on the island nation for millennia. The Tamils are the largest minority group and are separated into the northern Tamils, who are descendants of Tamil invaders from India from many centuries past, and the plantation Tamils, who were brought to the island to work British tea plantations in the nineteenth century.

The roots of the current war can be found in the British colonial practices. The British gained the island of Sri Lanka in 1798 as a Crown colony after a short struggle with the previous Dutch rulers. Tea and rubber estates were developed and Tamils were imported from India to work the plantations. The Sinhalese residents refused to work for the slave wages offered by the British. However, as the colonial occupation continued, the Sinhalese who had refused to work for the British found themselves passed over for education and employment opportunities which went to the Tamils. The result of British rule was the domination of the island's economic and political life by the Tamil minority.

In 1948, Sri Lanka was granted independence and a Sinhalese government was appointed. This government quickly passed legislation discriminatory against Tamils, allowing the Sinhalese greater access to land, education, and employment. Some plantation Tamils were even deported to India. The legalized discrimination continued through the 1970s, when two major Tamil parties joined to form the Tamil United Front, which would later become the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and would press for creation of a separate state "Tamil Eelam", from within the system. Other Tamils, more militant than the TULF, chose the path of terrorism and became the LTTE and other guerrilla groups. These Tamils concentrated their efforts on murdering Sinhalese officials and civilians until 1983.

The War:

In July 1983, the LTTE killed thirteen soldiers with a land mine. This explosion sparked three days of anti-Tamil rioting across Sri Lanka by the Sinhalese. Rioters rampaged through Tamil neighbourhoods, burning them to the ground and killing any Tamils they found. By the time the government took action to calm the rioting, some 400 Tamils had been massacred. The government was accused of not acting fast enough to stop the rioting, and this accusation, coupled with a tradition of official discrimination against Tamils, turned many to assisting the Tamil guerrillas.

Armed with popular support among their people, the guerrillas stepped up their guerrilla and terrorist activities. In one such attack in May 1985, Tamil guerrillas dressed as government soldiers entered Anuradhapura and went on a killing spree. They attacked the Bodhi Tree shrine, a sacred site to Buddhist Sinhalese, and then rampaged through the town. At least 150 civilians died in the hour-long attack. 

Civilian massacres and atrocities continued unabated until July 1987, when a negotiated peace settlement was worked out under Indian mediation. The agreement called for an Indian peacekeeping force (IPKF) to disarm the guerrillas in exchange for a full amnesty for the guerrillas and limited autonomy for Tamils. Unfortunately, the Tamils refused to be disarmed, and fighting broke out again, this time involving the IPKF. After months of fighting, the IPKF were able to remove control of the city of Jaffna from LTTE hands.

Terrorist attacks continued during the resurgence in fighting following the arrival of the peacekeeping force, and in 1987, an old terror group was resurrected. This old group was the Janatha Vinukthi Peramuna (JVP) and was composed of Sinhalese extremists who felt that the government had made too many concessions to the Tamils. The JVP, in a previous incarnation, had tried to take over the government in the short 1971 revo­lution. In its present incarnation, the JVP has launched terror­ist attacks against Tamils and government personnel, including a bombing attack on the presidential palace that almost killed then-President Jaywardene. A counter-insurgency campaign in late 1989 was thought to have effectively wiped out the JVP.

The IPKF bore the brunt of the fighting against the Tigers until 1989, when souring relations between the Sri Lankan and Indian governments and continued heavy fighting caused the recall of the 50,000 member force. The last Indian troops left on March 24, 1990.

This war, like many others, has fallen into a pattern of repeated ceasefires and combat. A thirteen-month cease fire was broken in June 1990 when a Tamil complained to the LTTE of police brutality. During 1990, several battles took place between LTTE and Government forces and Government forces discovered that the LTTE had used the ceasefire to build strong fortifications on the Elephant Pass which linked Jaffna to the rest of Sri Lanka. Combat continued until January 1991, when a week-long ceasefire occurred.

1991 saw continued military and guerrilla activity with LTTE forces attacking military bases. Terrorist activities also continued, with the assassination of Defence Minister Wijerante in a bomb blast on March 2. The war goes on.

Prospects for Sri Lanka are dismal. The hatred of the Sinhalese and Tamils for each other is simply too strong and too many civilians have been slaughtered to allow the mutual hate and fear which has existed since colonial times to be wiped out in a short time. Until one side either gives up the struggle, or gains enough strength to wipe out the other, the war will continue. At this point, the differences between the LTTE and the Government are irreconcilable.

Forces

The war in Sri Lanka is primarily fought between the Army and the LTTE, with some other groups joining the battle until being wiped out by either of the first two groups.

The Army in Sri Lanka is a large conventional force with a strong infantry base. Some 40,000 people serve in the Army, although this may have increased through repeated calls for enlistment by the regime. They are organized into 5 infantry brigades, 2 reconnaissance regiments, and 5 support regiments. Infantry weapons are mainly the AK-47 assault rifle, Bren L4 machinegun, and the M2HB heavy machinegun although other weapons can be found in service. Artillery support is provided by several small-calibre howitzers including the 25 Pounder, the 85mm Type-56, and the 76mm M-48 and this is supplemented by a small number of 106mm M-40 and 82mm M-60 recoilless launchers. Mortars include the Soviet 82mm M-37, 107mm M-38, and the 120mm M-43. Finally, Armoured units have a number of wheeled AFVs, including Saladins, Ferrets, Dingos, BTR-152s, and armoured SAMIL 100s. 

Small local militia or Home Guard units provide support for the military and attempt to keep local peace along with police forces. Both the militia and police use civilian small arms, but the police may have access to military-style weapons. There also exist paramilitary Special Task Force Units, which seem to be internal security forces.

On the opposing side are the LTTE. Little is known of their structure or armaments, but they may follow a Soviet-style organization as all Sri Lankan guerrilla groups have received training either from the Palestinians in Lebanon or the Indian government. The LTTE is also believed to have received weapons from the Indian government and possibly other Marxist nations. So, speculation on likely arms for the LTTE would produce a list encompassing AK-47s and older model Soviet support weapons such as RP-46 and RPD machineguns. Photographs have also shown them fielding L7A2 GPMGs. Weapons such as DShKs and RPG-7Vs are also likely to be found, but would be rare. Rounding out the LTTE armouries would be large quantities of civilian and military rifles, pistols, and shotguns.

Other Tamil guerrilla groups would mimic the LTTE in weapons, but not numbers. The LTTE is large enough to have held off both the Sri Lankan Army and the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) while at the same time fighting the other Tamil groups to eliminate rivals. On several occasions, the LTTE has almost wiped out its rivals. These other Tamil groups include the LTTE-allied Eelam Revolutionary Organization (EROS), a terrorist group and the Three Star Group, which is a rival to the LTTE. The Three Star Group consists of the Eelam People's Revolutionary  Liber­ation Front (EPRLF), the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOT), and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO).

The final guerrilla group is the Sinhalese Janatha Vinukthi Peramuna (JVP), or People's Liberation Front. These are Marxist insurgents who are fighting against the government which they see as having given too many concessions to the Tamils. Their weapons likely mirror the LTTE.

Of these last groups, only the LTTE currently remains a viable guerrilla organization. The others have been either wiped out by counterinsurgency efforts of the government or by LTTE attacks. Those fragments which remain have chosen terrorist tactics to continue their struggle.