Black July and Sri Lanka’s Conflict Shift

By the early 1980s, Tamil militancy had moved beyond isolated acts of violence and entered

a decisive phase that would permanently alter Sri Lanka’s internal conflict. This transformation

was triggered by a single event that would come to be known as Black July. On the 23rd of July

1983, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam carried out a planned ambush in Thirunelveli,

targeting a Sri Lankan Army convoy. Thirteen soldiers were killed in the attack.

According to the LTTE’s own narrative, the ambush was conducted in retaliation for the killing of Seelan,

a senior LTTE leader. While militarily limited in scale, the political and social consequences

of the attack were profound. The incident sparked widespread violence across the country.