The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the northeast of the island, due to the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan Government. Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran cited violent incidents of the 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom during his childhood that led him to militancy. In 1975, he assassinated the Mayor of Jaffna Alfred Duraiappah in revenge for the 1974 Tamil conference incident. The LTTE was founded in 1976 as a reaction to the Sri Lankan Constitution 1972

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Size: 4368px × 6587px
Location: Sri Lanka
Photo credit: © Roger Parton / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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