sri lanka heavily armed sri lanka army soldiers preparing to advance on ltte positions c 2008 photo from the sri lanka ministry of defence cc by sa 30 license the sri lankan civil war was a conflict fought on the island of sri lanka beginning on 23 june 1983 there was an on and off insurgency against the government by the liberation tigers of tamil eelam the ltte also known as the tamil tigers and other few rebel groups a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent tamil state named tamil eelam in the north and the east of the island 2b019e1.jpg from sri lanka gril xxx 筹 View Photo