LTTE Rebels

The Tamil separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) started its campaign against the Sri Lankan government in 1976. The LTTE was a very powerful and sophisticated group with tax systems for populations under its control, police force, uniforms, and even a navy and an air force. LTTE forces manged to assassinate an Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and a Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa. A signature tactic of the LTTE was the use of suicide bombers. The LTTE pioneered women as suicide bombers because they were less conspicuous then men. Women made as much as 40% of LTTE forces. This tactic was picked up Chechen rebel groups in the form of the infamous "black widow". Other opponents to the LTTE besides the government forces was rival Tamil separatist groups. Rival Tamil groups include the LTTE-K splinter faction, Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), and the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE). LTTE defeated all of those rival groups and became the dominant faction in the Tamil separatist movement. LTTE forces were finally defeated by government troops in 2006.