Tamil Tigers: History's MOST Dangerous Militants скачать в хорошем качестве

Tamil Tigers: History's MOST Dangerous Militants

What happens when a terrorist group becomes a better military force than the army? That was the horrifying reality faced by Sri Lanka as it contended with the legendary Tamil Tigers. The Tigers were prolific assassins and bombers, but at their height they commanded whole districts, a navy, and even an air force which allowed them to conquer military bases and even fend off India’s military might. Today on A Day In History, we look at the history of the Tamil Tigers, what made them so powerful and so feared, and how they were finally defeated. Rise of the Tigers Two ethnic groups dominate Sri Lanka: the Sinhalaese in the South, and the Tamils to the north. After decolonisation, the Sinhalaese dominated Sri Lankan politics and society which resulted in discrimination and inequality for the Tamils. Ethnic tensions flared, which the Sri Lankan government made worse by trying to stamp out Tamil art, language, and culture, and even forcing Tamils to swear an oath of allegiance denouncing Tamil identity. Unsurprisingly, Tamil separatism grew and soon militant groups emerged fighting for that cause. In 1976, Velupillai Prabhakaran founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) - better known as the Tamil Tigers - and quickly supplanted the rival groups to become the dominant Tamil-separatist militant organization. The Tigers were potentially linked to several small attacks and low-level political assassinations in the 1970s. In 1977, they were probably responsible for the assassination of a Tamil MP, but it wasn’t until July 1983 that the Tigers made a deadly entry onto the center stage. On July 23rd 1983, Prabhakaran and a group of Tigers ambushed the Sri Lankan army patrol 4-4-Bravo outside of the town of Tirunelveli. 13 soldiers were gunned down and the Tigers slipped away. The blatant attack triggered an angry response with trucks of Sri Lankan soldiers riding into Tirunelveli and attacking the Tamil residents there, killing around 60 people. The anger spread throughout Sri Lanka leading to ethnic riots that killed at least another 300 Tamils in what became known as Black July. Both sides took the events of Black July as just cause to step up attacks against each other. Thus began the First Eelam War (Eelam being the Tamil name for Sri Lanka). The brutal treatment of the Tamil minority earned the Tigers a great amount of international sympathy at the start. India with its large Tamil population was an obvious source of support. As well as donations from sympathetic Indians, the Indian government even trained some Tamil fighters in the 1980s to help their fight. The Tamils also enjoyed support from the global Tamil diaspora, mainly in Canada, Australia, and Britain, who donated money and curried support for the Tigers in the Western world. #tamiltigers #history #srilanka #historydocumentary Music: Epidemic music Sources: Ahmed S. Hashim, When Counterinsurgency Wins: Sri Lanka’s Defeat of the Tamil Tigers, (2013) Gordon Weiss, The Cage: The Fight for Sri Lanka and the Last Days of the Tamil Tigers, (2012) John Curtis and Tim Robinson, Sri Lankan Tamils and Human Rights, House of Commons Library, (2023) Paul Moorcraft, Total Destruction of the Tamil Tigers: The Rare Victory of Sri Lanka’s Long War, (2012) Copyright © 2024 A Day In History. All rights reserved. DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected]