The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on 23 June; 1983; there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE; also known as the Tamil Tigers and other few rebel groups); a separatist militant organization which fought 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.