Major Military Operations .28in chronological order.29 Eelam War III

july 18, 1996 : ltte overruns sri lankan military base @ mullaitivu, attack carried out after midnight. number of killed in action , missing in action around 1600 per military sources. there more 1500 ltte cadre s participated attack , captured large quantity of arms , military equipment. base used sri lanka army s 215 brigade headquarters. 1 of major encounters broke out between ltte , special forces (sf) commando reinforcements lt. col. laphir , 36 others killed , 60 more wounded. sri lanka air-force pilots landed second batch of commando s in same location , taken dead body of lt. col.laphir rope pulled down helicopter under heavy ltte gunfire. code name given ltte oyatha alaikal (endless waves) attack mullaitivu military base , sla code named operation thrivida pahara rescue mission.
operation sathjaya 1997: sla launched operation sathjaya capture kilinochchi ltte. after 70 days of siege army captured kilinochchi.
operation jayasikurui (1997-1998): in may 1997 sla launched operation jayasikurui (sure victory)to open land route jaffna peninsula. main objective of operation liberate a9 highway vavuniya kilinochchi. total distance approximately 70km. army abandoned operation after 18 months without achieving s main goal.
operation unceasing waves ii: ltte launched operation unceasing waves ii known 1998 battle of kilinochchi. . ltte recaptured kilinochchi town army after 3 days of intense battle.
operation ranagosha(battle cry): carried out in 4 phases. army occupied more 500sq.km. of ltte territory in vanni (sri lanka).
operation rivibala: secret operation launched army capture oddusuddan. important ltte base near ltte s stronghold mullaitivu.
operation unceasing waves iii: ltte launched operation unceasing waves iii on first week of november 1999. on first day ltte began oddusuddan offensive (1999). after capturing base attacked kanakarayankulam army hq. after fall of base ltte recaptured part of vanni .
second battle of elephant pass: ltte after liberating vanni launched attack liberate jaffna peninsula. known second battle of elephant pass ltte stepped operation inside jaffna peninsula. under leadership of kandiah balasegaran ltte launched sl civil war s largest behind enemy line operation. after 34 days long battle elephant pass base fell tamil tigers.
operation unceasing waves iv: on 26th september 2000 ltte launched operation unceasing waves iv. objective of operation liberate jaffna.
ltte s unilateral ceasefire: on 24th december 2000 ltte declared unilateral ceasefire. ended on 24th april 2001. anticipating large scale military operation army ltte chief velupillai prabhakaran used these 4 months effectively.
operation agni keela: army launched operation agnikeela on 25th april 2001within few hours after ltte ended unilateral ceasefire. s main objective retake elephant pass garrison lost ltte 1 year back. ltte had booby trap whole paths , positioned artillery , mortar units.due heavy casualties army abandoned operation.
2002 peace process: after few rounds of talks sri lankan government , ltte signed permanent ceasefire on 22nd february 2002. eelam war iii came end.