although tensions between the government and tamil militant groups had been brewing since the 1970s , full-scale war did not break out Process_start until an attack Attack by the ltte on a sri lanka army patrol in jaffna , in the north of the country , on july 23 , 1983 , which killed Killing 13 soldiers .

the ltte then declared Expressing_publicly they would `` resume their freedom struggle Hostile_encounter to achieve Achieve statehood '' . < ref unk '' unk '' > < unk > in 2007 , the government shifted Change its offensive to the north of the country , and formally announced Expressing_publicly its withdrawal Removing from the ceasefire agreement on 2 january 2008 , alleging Statement that the ltte violated the agreement over 10,000 unk < ref unk '' unk '' > < unk > since then , aided Assistance by the destruction of a number of large arms smuggling vessels that belonged to the ltte , < ref unk '' unk '' > < unk > and an international crackdown on the funding for the tamil tigers , the government took Creating control Control of the entire area previously controlled Control by the tamil tigers , including their de facto capital kilinochchi , main military base mullaitivu and the entire a9 highway , < ref unk '' unk '' > sri lankan forces capture Conquering last major rebel base in northeast , `` bloomberg '' . < unk > leading the ltte to finally admit defeat on 17 may 2009 .

the ltte then declared Expressing_publicly they would `` resume their freedom struggle Hostile_encounter to achieve Achieve statehood '' . < ref unk '' unk '' > < unk > in 2007 , the government shifted Change its offensive to the north of the country , and formally announced Expressing_publicly its withdrawal Removing from the ceasefire agreement on 2 january 2008 , alleging Statement that the ltte violated the agreement over 10,000 unk < ref unk '' unk '' > < unk > since then , aided Assistance by the destruction of a number of large arms smuggling vessels that belonged to the ltte , < ref unk '' unk '' > < unk > and an international crackdown on the funding for the tamil tigers , the government took Creating control Control of the entire area previously controlled Control by the tamil tigers , including their de facto capital kilinochchi , main military base mullaitivu and the entire a9 highway , < ref unk '' unk '' > sri lankan forces capture Conquering last major rebel base in northeast , `` bloomberg '' . < unk > leading the ltte to finally admit defeat on 17 may 2009 .

the ltte then declared Expressing_publicly they would `` resume their freedom struggle Hostile_encounter to achieve Achieve statehood '' . < ref unk '' unk '' > < unk > in 2007 , the government shifted Change its offensive to the north of the country , and formally announced Expressing_publicly its withdrawal Removing from the ceasefire agreement on 2 january 2008 , alleging Statement that the ltte violated the agreement over 10,000 unk < ref unk '' unk '' > < unk > since then , aided Assistance by the destruction of a number of large arms smuggling vessels that belonged to the ltte , < ref unk '' unk '' > < unk > and an international crackdown on the funding for the tamil tigers , the government took Creating control Control of the entire area previously controlled Control by the tamil tigers , including their de facto capital kilinochchi , main military base mullaitivu and the entire a9 highway , < ref unk '' unk '' > sri lankan forces capture Conquering last major rebel base in northeast , `` bloomberg '' . < unk > leading the ltte to finally admit defeat on 17 may 2009 .

the ltte then declared Expressing_publicly they would `` resume their freedom struggle Hostile_encounter to achieve Achieve statehood '' . < ref unk '' unk '' > < unk > in 2007 , the government shifted Change its offensive to the north of the country , and formally announced Expressing_publicly its withdrawal Removing from the ceasefire agreement on 2 january 2008 , alleging Statement that the ltte violated the agreement over 10,000 unk < ref unk '' unk '' > < unk > since then , aided Assistance by the destruction of a number of large arms smuggling vessels that belonged to the ltte , < ref unk '' unk '' > < unk > and an international crackdown on the funding for the tamil tigers , the government took Creating control Control of the entire area previously controlled Control by the tamil tigers , including their de facto capital kilinochchi , main military base mullaitivu and the entire a9 highway , < ref unk '' unk '' > sri lankan forces capture Conquering last major rebel base in northeast , `` bloomberg '' . < unk > leading the ltte to finally admit defeat on 17 may 2009 .

in may 2010 , mahinda rajapaksa , the then president of sri lanka , appointed Request the lessons learnt Education_teaching and reconciliation commission ( llrc ) to assess Scrutiny the conflict between the time of the ceasefire agreement in 2002 and the defeat of the ltte in 2009 .

at 3:15 am a group of 21 ltte commandos , most of them black tigers , who are known to be suicide bombers , attacked Attack the air base .