Apart from the LTTE , there initially was a plethora of militant groups ( see list ) . The LTTE 's position , adopted from that of the PLO , was that there should be only one . Initially , the LTTE gained prominence due to devastating attacks such as the Kent and Dollar Farm massacres of 1984 , where hundreds of men , women and children were attacked during the night as they slept and were hacked to death with fatal blows to the head from axes ; and the Anuradhapura massacre of 1985 , where the LTTE indiscriminately opened fire , killing and wounding 146 civilians within Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Buddhist shrine . The Anuradhapura massacre was apparently answered by government forces with the Kumudini boat massacre in which over 23 Tamil civilians died . Over time the LTTE merged with or largely exterminated almost all the other militant Tamil groups . As a result , many Tamil splinter groups ended up working with the Sri Lankan government as paramilitaries or denounced violence and joined mainstream politics ; some legitimate Tamil-oriented political parties remained , all opposed to LTTE 's vision of an independent state
Anuradhapura massacre
Anuradhapura massacre
Sri Lankan Civil War