The Sri Lankan government stated in 2011 that the international network of the LTTE was still searching to revive the organization. The LTTE was disbanded in 2009 after their military defeat by the Sri Lankan government and some 6,000 LTTE members were rehabilitated and re-integrated into society. The LTTE also earned a portion of their annual $200-300 million revenue from taxation and extortion in LTTE-controlled areas in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE was suspected of having links with a number of Islamist groups, such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Philippines and the Taliban in Afghanistan these links, however, were largely restricted to arms transfers and other commercial activities. The LTTE was largely supported by the Tamil diaspora overseas although in the 1980s, the LTTE received supplies and training from the Indian Intelligence services. The group was also notorious for its use of women and children in combat. The military wing had a naval group, an airborne unit, an intelligence wing, and even a specialized suicide terrorist unit. The LTTE consisted of a highly developed military wing and a secondary political wing. The LTTE is recognized for having carried out a number of high-profile assassinations, including the assassination of Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 and the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. An estimated 70,000 people were killed during the conflict between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government. By May 2009, government forces had defeated the LTTE and killed Prabhakaran.

After a number of failed negotiations, the Sri Lankan government declared an all-out offensive against the LTTE in 2006. Velupillai Prabhakaran founded the group in 1972 and by the late 1980s was the dominant Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, were a separatist militant organization fighting for an independent homeland for Sri LankaРІР‚в„ўs Tamil minority in northern Sri Lanka. In 2006, after another failed round of negotiations, the Sri Lankan government declared all-out war on the LTTE and the group was militarily defeated in May 2009. In March 2004, a large faction of the LTTE led by Colonel Karuna defected, significantly weakening the organization. Starting in 1985, the LTTE began negotiations with the Sri Lankan government however, multiple rounds of negotiations failed and were interrupted by bouts of violence and clashes between both sides. The LTTE were also notorious for their use of suicide terrorism, perpetrated by their elite suicide bombing unit known as the Black Tigers. The LTTE successfully carried out a number of high-profile attacks, including the assassination of two heads of state. During the 1980s, the LTTE defeated a number of different Tamil militant groups, emerging as the dominant group by the end of the decade.

The LTTE was founded in the early 1970s by Velupillai Prabhakaran, who led the group until his death by Sri Lankan armed forces in May 2009. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were a militant separatist group fighting for an independent homeland for Hindu Tamils in Northeastern Sri Lanka.

Tamil eelam war