The Sri Lankan Civil War was a war fought on the Island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on 23 July 1983, there was an intermittent insurgency against the Government by The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (also known as the Tamil Tigers), which fought to create an independent Tamil state in the North and East of the Island. After a 26-year military campaign, the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009, bringing the Civil War to an end.
In 2003, during the Civil War, I traveled with a rented car via the A9 corridor – with warnings for landmines on both sides – from Anuradhapura to Jaffna. An interesting moment was passing the border between the government area and the area occupied by the Tamils in Vanni. The border was checked by young Tamil girls, who visited every car inside and out. In Jaffna I stayed at the UN representation.