After defeating the

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...

led by the

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and anot ...

(JVP) in 1971, the

Sri Lanka Armed Forces The Sri Lanka Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka encompassing the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Navy, and the Sri Lanka Air Force; they are governed by the Ministry of Defence (Sri Lank ...

were confronted with a new conflict, this time with the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

(LTTE) and other Tamil militant groups. The war escalated to the point where India was asked to intervene as a peacekeeping force. This was later seen as a tactical error, as the

IPKF Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lank ...

united nationalist elements such as the JVP to politically support the LTTE in their call to evict the IPKF. The war with the LTTE was halted following the signing of a ceasefire agreement in 2002 with the help of international mediation. However, renewed violence broke out in December 2005 and following the collapse of peace talks, the army has been involved in the heavy fighting that has resumed in the north and east of the country. Since 1980 the army has undertaken many operations against the LTTE rebels. The major operations conducted by the army eventually lead to the capture of

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

and other rebel strongholds.

Major combat operations of the Sri Lankan Army

Eelam War I Eelam War I (23 July 1983 - 29 July 1987) is the name given to the initial phase of the Sri Lankan Civil War, armed conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. Although tensions between the government and Tamil militant groups had ...
(1983–1987)

IPKF intervention

Eelam War II Eelam War II is the name given to the second phase of armed conflict between Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The war started after the failure of peace talks between the Premadasa government and the LTT ...
(1990–1995)

Eelam War III Eelam War III is the name given to the third phase of armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). After the period of 100 days cease-fire the hostilities broke out on 19 April 19 ...
(1995–2002)

Eelam War IV Eelam War IV is the name given to the fourth phase of armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Renewed hostilities began on the 26 July 2006, when Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets ...
(2006–2009)

Eastern Theater

Northern Theater

Major Battles

The table below lists all the major

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

s of the Sri Lankan Civil War. The information included in the table has been pieced together from the individual battle articles. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sri Lankan Civil War Battles * * M Sri Lankan Civil War Military of Sri Lanka Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

Indian Peace Keeping Force

Major combat operations of the Sri Lankan Army

Eelam War I Eelam War I (23 July 1983 - 29 July 1987) is the name given to the initial phase of the Sri Lankan Civil War, armed conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. Although tensions between the government and Tamil militant groups had ... (1983–1987)