1975: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam group forms. The group demands a separate state for minority ethnic Tamils.July 1983: Tamil Tigers ambush army patrol in Jaffna, killing 13 soldiers and sparking anti-Tamil riots in which hundreds of people die. The civil war begins.

July 1987: India and Sri Lanka sign a pact to end Tamil separatism. India sends peacekeeping troops.1991: A Tamil Tiger suicide bomber assassinates former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, apparently in revenge for sending peacekeepers.

1993: A rebel suicide bomber kills Sri Lanka's President Ranasinghe Premadasa after his government's failed peace efforts.July 1996: Rebels attack an army camp in the northeastern town of Mullativu, killing 1,200 troops.January 1998: Tamil Tigers bomb Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist site.

February 2002: The Sri Lankan government signs a cease-fire agreement with the Tamil Tigers.December 2005: Rebels launch first major attack since truce, killing at least 12 Sri Lankan navy sailors.June 8, 2006: Peace talks in Norway begin.

July 20: Rebels close sluice gates of an eastern reservoir, cutting water to more than 60,000 people. In response, the government launches an offensive to crush the Tigers.Jan. 16, 2008: Sri Lanka officially withdraws from cease-fire deal with the Tamil Tigers.

Jan. 2, 2009: The Sri Lankan military captures the Tigers' de facto capital, Kilinochchi.January 25: The government captures rebels’ last major stronghold of Mullaittivu.May 18: Government says it has killed rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Tamil Tiger troops in northeastern Sri Lanka, 2006 Women mourn victims of an alleged Tamil attack Rebel soldiers standing guard Sri Lankan Troops close in on the last rebel land Saturday

The Tamil Tigers | A Timeline

Before Nov. 17, 2005

Feb. 6, 2007

Jan. 7, 2009

Sept. 3, 2007

July 20, 2008

July 12, 2007

April 20, 2009

May 18, 2009

Tamil Tiger areas

Sources: Associated Press (timeline and photos); Ministry of Defense, Sri Lanka

Colombo