Major Battles
The table below lists all the major battles of the Sri Lankan Civil War. The information included in the table has been pieced together from the individual battle articles.
| Battle | Date | Location | Deaths | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sri Lankan Military |
Tamil Tigers (LTTE) |
IPKF | Civilians | ||||
| Eelam War I 23 July 1983 – 29 July 1987 |
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| Kokkilai Offensive | 13 February 1985 | SLA camp, Kokkilai, Mullaitivu District | 4-100 | 16 | LTTE victory | ||
| Vadamarachchi Operation |
26 May 1987 - June 1987 | Vadamarachchi, Jaffna District | 689 | 631 | Partial SLA victory, Operation Poomalai |
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| Operation Poomalai | 4 June 1987 | Jaffna, Jaffna District | Indian intervention | ||||
| Cease Fire 29 July 1987 - October 1987 |
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| Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War October 1987 - 24 March 1990 |
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| Operation Pawan | 11 October 1987 – 25 October 1987 |
Jaffna, Jaffna District | ? | 214 | IPKF victory | ||
| Operation Trishul | April 1988 | Northern Province | |||||
| Operation Viraat | April 1988 | Northern Province | IPKF victory | ||||
| Operation Checkmate | June 1988 | Vadamarachi, Northern Province | IPKF victory | ||||
| Jaffna University Helidrop | 12 October 1988 | Jaffna, Jaffna District | LTTE victory | ||||
| Eelam War II 10 June 1990 – 9 January 1995 |
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| Battle of Kokavil | 27 June 1990 – 11 July 1990 |
SLA camp, Kokavil, Kilinochchi District | 69 | LTTE victory | |||
| Operation Sea Breeze | SLA victory | ||||||
| Operation Thrividha Balaya | SLA victory | ||||||
| Operation Balavegaya |
14 July 1991 – 9 August 1991 |
Jaffna, Jaffna District | 202-400 | 573-1,000+ | SLA victory | ||
| Operation Sathbala | SLA victory | ||||||
| Operation Balavegaya II | SLA victory | ||||||
| Welioya | 2 | 330 | SLA victory | ||||
| Battle of Elephant Pass (1st) | 10 July 1991 – 9 August 1991 |
SLA camp, Elephant Pass, Kilinochchi District | 202-400 | 573-1,000 | SLA victory | ||
| Battle of Pooneryn | 11 November 1993 – 12 November 1993 |
Pooneryn (Poonakari), Kilinochchi District | 441 | 469 | Both SLA & LTTE claimed the victory | ||
| Cease Fire 9 January 1995 – 19 April 1995 |
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| Eelam War III 19 April 1995 - December 2001 |
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| Operation Riviresa (Sun Rays) / Battle of Jaffna |
17 October 1995 – 5 December 1995 |
Jaffna, Jaffna District | 500 | 2,000 | SLA victory | ||
| Battle of Mullaitivu (1st) |
18 July 1996 – 25 July 1996 |
Mullaitivu, Mullaitivu District | 1,242 | 332 | LTTE victory | ||
| Operation Sath Jaya | 26 July 1996 – 3 October 1996 |
Elephant Pass and Kilinochchi | ≈ 500 | 121 | SLA victory | ||
| Vavunathivu Offensive | 7 March 1997 | SLA camp, Vavunathivu, Batticaloa District | 75 | 103 | LTTE victory | ||
| Operation Jayasikurui | 13 May 1997 - 1999 | Sri Lanka | 1,350 | 3,614 | LTTE victory | ||
| * Thandikulam–Omanthai offensive | 10 June 1997 – 25 June 1997 |
Thandikulam & Omanthai, Vavuniya District | 700 | 165 | LTTE victory | ||
| Battle of Kilinochchi (1st) |
27 September 1998 – 29 September 1998 |
Kilinochchi, Kilinochchi District | 443 | 520 | LTTE victory | ||
| Operation Rana Gosa | 4 March, 1999 – ? |
Northern Province, Sri Lanka | SLA victory | ||||
| Oddusuddan Offensive | October 1999 – 2 November 1999 |
Oddusuddan, Mullaitivu District | 800 | LTTE victory | |||
| Battle for the A-9 highway | 27 March 2000 – 20 April 2000 |
A-9 Highway, Kilinochchi District | 203 | 317 | 50 | LTTE victory | |
| Battle of Elephant Pass (2nd) |
22 April 2000 – 23 April 2000 |
SLA camp, Elephant Pass, Kilinochchi District | 204 | 150 | LTTE victory | ||
| Bandaranaike Airport attack | 24 July 2001 | Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake, Gampaha District | 7 | 14 | Successful LTTE raid | ||
| Cease Fire December 2001 - 26 July 2006 |
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| Battle of Point Pedro | 12 May 2006 | Bay of Bengal near Point Pedro, Jaffna District | 17 | 54 | SLN victory | ||
| Eelam War IV 26 July 2006 – 18 May 2009 |
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| Battle of Jaffna | 11 August 2006 – 29 October 2006 |
Jaffna Peninsula, Jaffna District | 300 | 700-1,000 | Stalemate | ||
| Battle of Sampur | 28 August 2006 – 4 September 2006 |
Sampoor (Sampur), Trincomalee District | 33 | 200 | SLA victory | ||
| Attack on Galle Harbour | 18 October 2006 | Galle, Galle District | 1 | 9 | 1 | SLN victory | |
| Battle of Thoppigala | 25 April 2007 – 11 July 2007 |
Kudumbimalai (Thoppikkal), Batticaloa District | 48 | 700-800 | SLA victory | ||
| Battle of Point Pedro | 19 June 2007 | Bay of Bengal near Point Pedro, Jaffna District | 40 | SLN victory | |||
| Raid on Anuradhapura AFB | 22 October 2007 | SLAF Base, Anuradhapura, Anuradhapura District | 14 | 20 | Successful LTTE raid | ||
| Battle of Delft | 25 December 2007 | Palk Strait near Neduntheevu (Delft) island, Jaffna District | 4-40 | Disputed | |||
| Battle of Vidattaltivu | 16 July 2008 | Vidattaltivu, Mannar District | 1 | 51 | SLA victory | ||
| Battle of Kilinochchi (2nd) | 23 November 2008 – 2 January 2009 |
Kilinochchi, Kilinochchi District | SLA victory | ||||
| Battle of Mullaitivu (2nd) | 2 January 2009 – 25 January 2009 |
Mullaitivu, Mullaitivu District | SLA victory | ||||
| Battle of Elephant Pass (3rd) | 9 January 2009 | Elephant Pass | SLA victory | ||||
| Battle of Chalai | 2 February 2009 – 6 February 2009 |
Chalai, Mullaitivu District | 12 | SLA victory | |||
| Battle of Puthukkudiyirippu | Puthukkudiyirippu, Mullaitivu District | SLA victory | |||||
| Truce 13 April 2009 – 15 April 2009 |
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| Final Battle of the Sri Lankan Civil War | Puthukkudiyirippu, Mullaitivu District | SLA victory | |||||
| GOSL declares victory and end of the war 19 May 2009 |
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Read more about this topic: List Of Military Operations Of The Sri Lankan Civil War
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