by International Truth & Justice Project – Sri Lanka, South Africa, October 28, 2026
The end of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009 is widely recognised as the bloodiest period of a decades-long conflict between Government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE. It is a period that has been the subject of years of investigation by the United Nations and prosecutors in multiple countries – except Sri Lanka itself, where there has been denial regarding the extent of the alleged war crimes. To date nobody knows how many tens of thousands perished in those last five months. And years later nobody has been prosecuted and convicted for their role in the atrocities perpetrated then.
In April 2009, the last major battle between the armed forces of both sides took place in Ananthapuram. As a subject of study, events at Ananthapuram have been ignored by everyone – including the ITJP – until now. The focus instead was on attacks on civilians, food queues and hospitals, rather than on battles between the armed groups. Additionally, it was thought very few LTTE cadres had survived the Ananthapuram battle to bear witness. However, over the last 17 years, survivors have slowly emerged abroad. There are also survivors in Sri Lanka, but the political atmosphere there makes it unlikely they would want to advertise their role as hardcore fighters. Even abroad, the former LTTE cadres interviewed for this report were reluctant to disclose their identity to others and spoke on condition of confidentiality.
After hearing incredible accounts of a battle that we initially believed nobody had survived, we felt these stories were an important part of the history of the Sri Lankan war and should be documented and made public. The report is in two sections:
Part One is a narrative weaving together the stories of survivors with other accounts.
Part Two is a legal analysis of the violations of international humanitarian law during the Ananthapuram battle