Sri Lanka: 25 years of civil war
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Colombo, 1983: The LTTE's first attack against government forces led to rioting against the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. The 'Black July' riots are seen as the starting point of the conflict
Photograph: JLR/AP
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Jaffna peninsula, 1986: Tamil guerillas leave Jaffna by boat, bound for India
Photograph: Michel Philippot/Sygma/Corbis
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Boosa, 1986: Young prisoners stare out from behind a barbed wire fence at a government detention camp for suspected Tamil separatist rebels
Photograph: Sandro Tucci/Time & Life Pictures/Getty
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Colombo, 1986: The tail section of an Air Lanka plane that was blown apart by a bomb before takeoff at Colombo airport, killing at least 16 people. The bomb was attributed to the LTTE
Photograph: Sandro Tucci/Time & Life Pictures/Getty
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Sri Lanka, 1987: The LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, sits flanked by two Indian guards below a picture of Ché Guevera
Photograph: Sandro Tucci/Time & Life Pictures/Getty
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Colombo, 1987: The then Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, ducks a rifle butt attack by a Sri Lankan naval rating during a guard of honour, after he signed a controversial peace pact with the Colombo government
Photograph: Sena Vidanagama/AFP/Getty Images
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Colombo , 1987: A woman passes stacks of coffins outside a morgue containing the victims of a car bomb which killed 111 people and injured almost 300
Photograph: Liu Heung Shing/AP
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Trincomalee, 1990: Indian peacekeeping soldiers pull out of Sri Lanka after three years of trying to end the civil war
Photograph: Robert Nickelsberg/Time & Life Pictures/Getty
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Jaffna, 1991: Young Tamil Tiger fighters, some of them children
Photograph: Roger Hutchings/Corbis
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Delhi, India, 1991: The funeral of Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber while campaigning in Tamil Nadu
Photograph: Baldev Kapoor /Sygma/Corbis
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Colombo, 1993: A soldier watches the funeral procession of the slain Sri Lankan president, Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was killed in a Tamil Tiger bomb attack
Photograph: Doug Curran/AFP/Getty Images
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Thamilaval, 1995: Women soldiers fighting for the LTTE
Photograph: Profile Press /Rex Features
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Colombo, 1996: A police officer calls for aid for a man injured by a car bomb. Two explosions ripped apart many buildings in the city centre, killing at least 50 people and injuring more than 1,000
Photograph: Dexter Cruz/AP
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Colombo, 1999: Sri Lanka's then president, Chandrika Kumaratunga, is sworn into office for a second term. Kumaratunga lost an eye in a Tamil Tiger bomb attack
Photograph: John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images
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Jaffna, 2000: A Sri Lankan soldier walks past a wall riddled with bullet holes, as he patrols the Jaffna suburb of Colombuthurai. Jaffna was the location of some of the most bitter fighting between government and LTTE forces
Photograph: Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi/Reuters
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Colombo, 2001: Tamil Tiger rebels devastated the Bandaranaike airport outside the capital after first attacking an adjoining military air base. A total of 13 aircraft were destroyed and 18 people were killed
Photograph: Sena Vidanagama/AFP
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Oslo, Norway, 2002: The third round of peace negotiations resume between the Tamil Tigers and the government of Sri Lanka
Photograph: Heiko Junge/AP
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Batticaloa, 2004: The head of the eastern faction of the Tamil Tiger rebels, Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, or Colonel Karuna, led a split from the LTTE, taking 6,000 fighters with him
Photograph: Julia Drapkin/AP
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September 2008: Prabhakaran with 10 alleged Tamil Tiger suicide bombers who carried out a devastating attack against a military complex on 9 September
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
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Akkaraayan, 2008: LTTE rebels fire a heavy machine gun during fighting against Sri Lankan government soldiers
Photograph: Tamilnet/AFP
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Puthukkudiyiruppu, 2009: A Sri Lankan soldier stands near a tank as it fires a shell at LTTE positions
Photograph: Reuters
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Chettikulam, April 2009: Displaced Tamil civilians at Kadirgamh camp after fleeing the escalating armed conflict
Photograph: Pedro Ugarte/AFP
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Puthukkudiyiruppu, 2009: An elderly Sri Lankan Tamil civilian sits among the rubble of a village
Photograph: Pedro Ugarte/AFP
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Northern Sri Lanka, May 2009: An injured Tamil woman cradles her child inside the 'no fire zone'
Photograph: WarWithoutWitness.com/Reuters
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London, UK, 2009: Tamil protesters demonstrate outside parliament against alleged human rights abuses in Sri Lanka
Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty
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Putumatalan, 2009: A Sri Lankan government soldier rides in an armoured personal carrier near the 'no fire zone' where they have encircled the LTTE
Photograph: David Gray/Reuters
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Colombo, 17 May 2009: Supporters wave the Sri Lankan flag as they celebrate the return of the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapakse, from Jordan. The president declared that the island's separatist Tamil Tiger rebels had been 'defeated militarily' after decades of bitter ethnic bloodshed
Photograph: Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images
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Colombo, 18 May 2009: People read newspapers which report the Sri Lankan military's victory over the LTTE
Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty Images
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Mullaitivu, May 18: A government soldier carrying a child inside the war zone as the last of the surviving Tamil civilians are evacuated
Photograph: Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence/AFP/Getty Images
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Colombo, May 19: President Rajapakse arrives at parliament to deliver his speech announcing the final defeat of the Tamil Tigers
Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty Images
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May 19: The alleged corpse of Prabhakaran
Photograph: Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence/REUTERS
