Black Tigers

The Black Tigers (Tamil: கரும்புலிகள்) was an elite suicide commando (special operations capable) unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant Tamil separatist organization in Sri Lanka.

They were specially selected and trained LTTE cadres whose missions included direct action, irregular warfare, and mounting suicide attacks primarily against military targets. Their most notable military operations are the Raid on Katunayake Air Force Base, Raid on Anuradhapura Air Force Base, and Raid on the Iyakkachchi Army Base. Economic and political targets were also attacked at times, among them Sri Lankan PresidentRanasinghe Premadasa and former Indian Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi. Civilians were also killed during certain attacks, such as the bombing of the Central Bank and the Temple of the Tooth attack.

Since their formation in 1987 until the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in 2009, more than 330 Black Tigers carried out suicide attacks on air, land, and sea, mostly in Sri Lanka. Experts estimated that the Black Tigers had carried out the most suicide attacks reported around the world by the time the Sri Lankan civil war ended in 2009.