First Islamic War

The First Islamic War is the name given to the initial phase of the armed clash between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE . Although tensions between the government and Tamil militant groups have been brewing since the 1970s, a full-scale war did not erupt until the LTTE attacked Sri Lanka Army patrols in Jaffna, in the north of the country, on July 23, 1983, 13 soldiers were killed. The attack and subsequent riots in the south (remaining in history under the name Black July ) are seen as the beginning of the conflict. This struggle continued until 1985, when peace talks were held between the two sides in Thimphu , Bhutan in the hope of finding a peaceful settlement. They turned out to be fruitless, and the fighting parties soon clashed again, and hostilities resumed.

By 1987, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces had cornered Toti at the tip of Jaffna ^{[ specify ] the} islands and were confident in ending the conflict. However, due to political pressure from the 50 million Tamils ​​living in India, the Indian government called for a halt to the offensive. Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi ordered a fleet of ships to save the LTTE. After the convoy was blocked by the Sri Lankan fleet, India instead embarked on another rescue option - dropping airplanes aid into the besieged city. The mission became known as Operation Pumalai .

Following the successful completion of the mission, given the possibility of further involvement of the Indian armed forces in the conflict, the President of Sri Lanka Jayavarden had no choice but to begin negotiations with the Indian government to resolve this conflict. As a result of the negotiations, the siege of Jaffna was lifted, and the Sri Lankan-Indian agreement was signed on July 29, 1987. Sri Lankan troops then left the north of the country and transferred control of the entire area to Indian peacekeeping troops. This was the end of the first stage of ethnic conflict, the first part of the Civil War in Sri Lanka.