Although much of the insurgency was a low intensity conflict , with targeted assassinations and intimidation . Major attacks include the 1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament and 1989 Temple of the Tooth attack . In addition the militant wing of the JVP led by Saman Piyasiri Fernando staged several major attacks on military installations in the south of the island . These included ; In many of these attacks , the JVP targeted the armories capturing weapons and ammunition that it claimed to use against Indian Peace Keeping Forces . The JVP made a serious misjudgment when , through the DJV , it called for the killing of members of the families of army personnel . This destroyed the small but significant amount of support that it enjoyed among the lower ranks of the armed forces , and made it possible for the government to justify its campaign of terror . As a means of pacifying the support base of JVP , a wide range of acts of cruelty , including the torture and mass murder of school children , who were allegedly JVP supporters , was carried out by the state
1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament
1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament
1987–1989 JVP insurrection