Sri Lankan Civil War ශ්‍රී ලාංකික සිවිල් යුද්ධය இலங்கை உள்நாட்டுப் போர் The area of Sri Lanka claimed by the LTTE as Tamil Eelam, where the vast majority of the fighting took place Date 23 July 1983 -- 18 May 2009 (25 years, 9 months, 3 weeks and 4 days) Location Sri Lanka Result Sri Lankan government victory Rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam militarily defeated Sri Lankan government reestablishes control over entire island Territorial changes Government regains total control of former LTTE - controlled areas in the North and East of the country. Belligerents Sri Lanka Indian Peace Keeping Force (1987 -- 1990) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Commanders and leaders J.R. Jayawardene (1983 -- 1989) Ranasinghe Premadasa † (1989 -- 1993) D.B. Wijetunga (1993 -- 1994) Chandrika Kumaratunga (1994 -- 2005) Mahinda Rajapaksa (2005 -- 2009) R. Venkataraman (1987 -- 1989) Rajiv Gandhi (1987 -- 1989) † V. Prabhakaran † (1983 -- 2009) Balraj Karuna Amman (1983 -- 2004) KP Mahattaya Pottu Amman Shankar † Soosai † Strength Sri Lanka Armed Forces: 95,000 (2001) 118,000 (2002) 158,000 (2003) 151,000 (2004) 111,000 (2005) 150,900 (2006) 210,000 (2008) Indian Peace Keeping Force: 100,000 (peak) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (excluding Auxiliary forces): 6,000 (2001) 7,000 (2003 18,000 (2004)) 11,000 (2005) 8,000 (2006) 7,000 (2007) (including Auxiliary forces): 25,000 (2006) 30,000 (2008) Casualties and losses 23,327 + killed 60,000 + wounded (Sri Lankan military and police) 1,200 killed (Indian Peace Keeping Force) 27,000 + killed 11,644 captured 100,000 + killed overall (estimate) 800,000 displaced at peak in 2001 16 May 2009: Sri Lankan Government declared a military defeat of LTTE. 17 May 2009: LTTE admit defeat by Sri Lankan Government. 19 May 2009: President Mahinda Rajapaksa officially declares end of civil war in parliament.
who was involved in the sri lankan civil war
Sri Lankan government Sri Lankan government Sri Lankan Government Sri Lankan Government Rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Indian Peace Keeping Force Indian Peace Keeping Force Indian Peace Keeping Force