The official government of Sri Lanka has captured the rebel capital of Kilinochchi from separatist rebel force, The Tamil Tigers.

The rebels, known official as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been fighting for independence since the early 70’s. They were trained by various administrations of the Indian Government throughout their campaign. In the mid-90’s the LTTE expanded, developing international offices in Paris and London. The group become well-known as one of the most highly-trained and discipled guerilla forces in the world. Much like the IRA during its paramilitary campaign, the LTTE raised most of its funds from the donations of expatriates living in the US, UK and other more economically developed countires.

Cyanide Capsules

During the mid-90’s Tamil Tiger recruits were each given cyanide capsules upon graduation from the infantry training camp, they wore these on necklaces. The number of Tigers captured by Sri Lankan forces over that period was relatively miniscule when compared to similar conflicts elsewhere in the world. Becoming a martyr for the cause is still seen as more respectable than being captured.

Over 70′000 people have been killed over the course of the war. In the 1990s The LTTE were accused of ethnic cleansing by Refugees International (and other groups) for attempting to force out the 10′00 strong Muslim population from the previously held area surrounding the town of Jaffna in the far north of the Island. The Tamil leadership later apologised for this and invited the Muslims to return.

The Sri Lankan Government was also accused of ethnic cleansing in July 2007 by various human rights groups (as reported in The Guardian). Police officers raided homes of hundreds of ethnic Tamils in the country’s capital, Columbo and packed them onto buses in what it called “clearing the city of terrorists”.

Unparalleled Victory

The taking of the defacto capital by Government forces is huge blow to the LTTE. “This was an unparalleled victory,” the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapakse, said in a televised speech from his office. It should be noted that the town was also captured by the Sri Lankan Amry in 1986, only to be retaken by the tigers two years later. However in recent years the Tamils have suffered a series of considerable set-backs resulting a huge lose of territory. Kilinochchi was seen as one of the last remaining Tamil strongholds, it’s loss means the force will probably move towards more guerilla activities, again, like the IRA.

Soon after the Sri Lankan leader made his speech to the nation Columbo was shaken by a huge bomb-blast. A suicide bomber killed 3 people and wounded more than 30 near the SL Air Force HQ.

The Fight Will Go On

In an interview with Al Jazeera today the leader of the British Tamil diaspora said that the loss of the city was “only territory, not a military loss, we still have on we need to continue fighting, the fight will go on.”

This entry was posted on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 at 10:11 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.