The Sri Lankan Civil War began on July 23; 1983; and quickly developed into an on-and-off insurgency against the Colombo government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE); commonly known as the Tamil Tigers; and other few rebel groups; which were fighting to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil Eelam in the north and the east of the island. After a 26-year military campaign; the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009.