2008–2009 Sri Lankan Army Northern offensive
| 2008–2009 SLA Northern offensive | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Sri Lankan Civil War, Eelam War IV, Northern Theatre of Eelam War IV | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Military of Sri Lanka | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Gen. Sarath Fonseka: Major General Jagath Jayasuriya Major General G. A. Chandrasiri Major General Shavendra Silva Major General Jagath Dias Major General Nandana Udawatta | Velupillai Prabhakaran † | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Unknown | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 200,000 | 7,000–17,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
3,500+ killed, 16,000 wounded |
2,200+ killed in 2008 (LTTE claim) 4,073 killed in 2008 (SLA claim) 2,515 killed in 2009 (SLA claim) | ||||||||
|
396 civilians killed January–September 2008 20,000–40,000 civilians killed January 2009 – May 2009 | |||||||||
The 2008–2009 SLA Northern offensive was an armed conflict in the northern Province of Sri Lanka between the military of Sri Lanka and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The battle began with a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive attempting to break through the LTTE defence lines in the north of the island, aiming to conclude the country's 25-year-old civil war by military victory.