Lanka's post-war struggle

16 August 2011 04:54 am

The Sri Lankan civil war, which began in 1983, saw the Tamil Tigers fighting government forces to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil Eelam in the north and the east of the island. After a 26-year-long military campaign, the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009. The civil war caused significant hardships for the population, environment and the economy of the country, with an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people killed during its course. Two years after the war's end, the Sri Lankan people are still suffering, with trauma, poverty and discrimination remaining part of everyday life. (Pictures courtesy Aljazeera)