<Li> Nagerkovil - Allaipiddy </Li> <Li> Kent and Dollar Farm </Li> <P> The Sri Lankan Civil War was an armed conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka . Beginning on 23 July 1983, there was an intermittent insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers), which fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north and the east of the island . After a 26 - year military campaign, the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009, bringing the civil war to an end . </P> <P> For over 25 years, the war caused significant hardships for the population, environment and the economy of the country, with an initial estimated 80,000--100,000 people killed during its course . In 2013, the UN panel estimated additional deaths during the last phase of the war: "Around 40,000 died while other independent reports estimated the number of civilians dead to exceed 100,000 ." During the early part of the conflict, the Sri Lankan forces attempted to retake the areas captured by the LTTE . The tactics employed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam against the actions of Government forces resulted in their listing as a terrorist organisation in 32 countries, including the United States, India, Canada and the member nations of the European Union . The Sri Lankan government forces have also been accused of human rights abuses, systematic impunity for serious human rights violations, lack of respect for habeas corpus in arbitrary detentions, and forced disappearances . </P>

Who fought in the sri lankan civil war