Casualties of the Sri Lankan Civil War

The Sri Lankan civil war was very costly, killing an estimated 80,000-100,000 people between 1982 and 2009.^[1] The deaths include 27,639 Tamil fighters, more than 21,066 Sri Lankan soldiers, 1000 Sri Lankan police, 1500 Indian soldiers, and tens of thousands of civilians. The Uppsala Conflict Data Program, a university-based data collection program considered to be "one of the most accurate and well-used data-sources on global armed conflicts"^[2] provides free data to the public and has divided Sri Lanka's conflicts into groups based on the actors involved. It collectively reported that between 1990 and 2009 between 59,193-75,601^[3] people were killed in Sri Lanka during various three types of organized armed conflict: "State-based" conflicts, those that involved the Government of Sri Lanka against rebel groups(LTTE and the JVP), "Non-state" conflicts, those conflicts that did not involve the government of Sri Lanka (e.g. LTTE vs. LTTE-Karuna Faction, and LTTE vs. PLOTE), as well as "One-sided" violence, that involved deliberate attacks against civilians perpetrated by either LTTE or the Government of Sri Lanka.^[4]

Summary

Minister of Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said on an interview with state television that 23,790 Sri Lankan military personnel were killed since 1981 (it was not specified if police or other non armed forces personnel were included in this particular figure).

From the August 2006 recapture of the Mavil Aru reservoir until the formal declaration of the cessation of hostilities (on May 18), 6261 Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and 29,551 were wounded.^[5]

The Sri Lankan military estimates that up to 22,000 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in the last three years of the conflict.^[6]

The final five months of the civil war saw the heaviest civilian casualties. The UN, based on credible witness evidence from aid agencies and civilians evacuated from the Safe Zone by sea, estimated that 6,500 civilians were killed and another 14,000 injured between mid-January 2009, when the Safe Zone was first declared, and mid-April 2009.^[7][8] There are no official casualty figures after this period but estimates of the death toll for the final four months of the civil war (mid-January to mid-May) range from 15,000 to 20,000.^[9][10] A US State Department report has suggested that the actual casualty figures were probably much higher than the UN's estimates and that significant numbers of casualties weren't recorded.^[11] A former UN official has claimed that up to 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final stages of the civil war.^[12]

Casualties

War or Phase	Date	Deaths									Total dead	Wounded									Total wounded	Sources/ notes
		combat			other			total				combat			other			total
		C	SF	TT	C	SF	TT	C	SF	TT		C	SF	TT	C	SF	TT	C	SF	TT
Eelam War I	1983	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	1984
	1985
	1986
Eelam War I/Indian intervention	1987
	1988
	1989
Indian intervention /Eelam War II	1990
	1991
	1992
	1993
	1994
Eelam War II/Eelam War III	1995
	1996
	1997
	1998
	1999
	2000	162	784	2,845																		[13]
	2001	89	412	1,321																		[13]
2002 Ceasefire	2002	14	1	0																		[13]
	2003	31	2	26																		[13]
	2004	33	7	69																		[13]
	2005	153	90	87																		[13]
2002 Ceasefire/Eelam War IV	2006	981	826	2,319																		[13]
	2007	525	499	3,345																		[13]
	2008	404	1,314	9,426																		[13]
	2009	11,108	1,312	2,941																		[13]
Total	≈26 years	13,500	5,247	22,379					23,790	27,639												[13]

The above table is incomplete. Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

Eelam War I

Year	Civilians	Security Force	LTTE	Total
1983	400 - 3,000	13	53 - 100	~3,113
1984
1985
1986
1987
Total
Notes:
Source:

The above table is incomplete. Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

Indian intervention

Year	Civilians	Security Force	IPKF	LTTE	Total
1987
1988
1989
1990
Total		26	1,000+	1,300
Notes:
Source:

The above table is incomplete. Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

Eelam War II

Year	Civilians	Security Force	LTTE	Total
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
Total
Notes:
Source:

The above table is incomplete. Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

Eelam War III

Year	Civilians	Security Force	LTTE	Total
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000*	162	784	2,845	3,791
2001	89	412	1,321	1,822
Total	251	1,196	4,166	5,613
Notes:*Data from March 1, 2000
Source:[14]

The above table is incomplete. Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

Cease Fire Period

Year	Civilians	Security Force	LTTE	Total
2002	14	1	0	15
2003	31	2	26	59
2004	33	7	69	109
2005	153	90	87	330
Total	231	100	182	513
Notes:Includes only Casualties between 2002-2005 most of which is the Cease Fire.
Source:[14]

The above table is incomplete. Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

Eelam War IV

Year	Civilians	Security Force	LTTE	Total
2006	981	826	2,319	4,126
2007	525	499	3,345	4,369
2008	404	1,314	9,426	11,144
2009*	9,257	1,312	2,515	13,084
Total
Notes:*Data till April 20, 2009
Source:[14][15]

The above table is incomplete. Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

Overall

Year	Civilians	Security Force	LTTE	Total
Eelam War I
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
Indian intervention
1988
1989
Eelam War II
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
Eelam War III
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000**	162	784	2,845	3,791
2001	89	412	1,321	1,822
Cease Fire
2002	14	1	0	15
2003	31	2	26	59
2004	33	7	69	109
2005	153	90	87	330
Eelam War IV
2006	981	826	2,319	4,126
2007	525	499	3,345	4,369
2008	404	1,314	9,426	11,144
2009*	9,257	1,312	2,515	13,084
Total	11,649	5,247	21,953	38,849
Notes:*Data till May 11, 2009, **Data from March 1, 2000
Source:[14][15]

The above table is incomplete. Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

References

1. "Up to 100,000 killed in Sri Lanka's civil war: UN". ABC Australia. 20 May 2009.
2. Ford Institute for Human Security, Human Security Data, http://www.fordinstitute.pitt.edu/FordResources/Databases/tabid/466/Default.aspx,
3. Uppsala Conflict Data Program, Low-high estimates for state based fighting between Government of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and JVP (low:61-high:61)Government of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and LTTE (Low:56,219-high:70,375), deliberate killings of civilians by Government of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) (low:368-high:1,666) and LTTE (low:2,252-high:3,110) and fighting between LTTE and LTTE-Karuna Faction (low:192-high:294) and LTTE and PLOTE (low:101-high:103), http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=144&regionSelect=6-Central_and_Southern_Asia#, viewed 2013-05-03
4. Uppsala Conflict Data Program, Sri Lanka Conflict Summary, http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=144&regionSelect=6-Central_and_Southern_Asia
5. "Victory's price: 6,200 Sri Lankan troops". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 May 2009.
6. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eda17636-4733-11de-923e-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1
7. David Pallister & Gethin Chamberlain (24 April 2009). "Sri Lanka war toll near 6,500, UN report says". London: The Guardian, UK.
8. "Sri Lanka rejects rebel ceasefire". BBC News. 27 April 2009.
9. Chamberlain, Gethin (29 May 2009). "Sri Lanka death toll 'unacceptably high', says UN". London: The Guardian, UK. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
10. "Slaughter in Sri Lanka". London: The Times, UK. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
11. "Report to Congress on Incidents During the Recent Conflict in Sri Lanka" (PDF). Department of State, USA. 22 October 2009.
12. Buncombe, Andrew (12 February 2010). "Up to 40,000 civilians 'died in Sri Lanka offensive'". The Independent. London. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
13. http://satp.org/satporgtp/countries/shrilanka/database/annual_casualties.htm
14. South Asian Terrorism Portal.
15. South Asian Terrorism Portal.