Kammala jumla mai zuwa: An kafa shi a watan Mayu 1976 ta Velupillai Prabhakaran, LTTE ta shiga cikin rikice-rikicen makamai da gwamnatin Sri Lanka da sojojin soja. Tsanantawa da 'yan Tamil na Sri Lanka suka ci gaba da cin zarafin Sinhalese, musamman a lokacin da aka yi wa' yan Tamil na 1977 da kuma konewa da aka yi wa ɗakin karatu na Jaffna a 1981. Bayan makonni na Yuli 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom da 'yan Sinhalese suka yi wanda aka sani da
Black Yuli, rikicin LTTE na rikice-rikicen rikice-rikice a cikin cikakken tashin hankali na kasa ya fara, wanda ya fara yakin basasa na Sri Lanka. A wannan lokacin, an dauki LTTE a matsayin mafi rinjaye kungiyar mayakan Tamil a Sri Lanka kuma daga cikin sojojin guerrilla da aka fi jin tsoro a duniya, yayin da matsayin Prabhakaran a matsayin dan gwagwarmayar 'yanci ya haifar da kwatankwacin juyin juya halin Che Guevara ta hanyar kafofin watsa labarai na duniya, kodayake ana kallon ayyukan Prabhakaran a matsayin ta'addanci.