In 1983, a week of riots triggered the decades-long Sri Lankan Civil War
A series of devastating riots known as Black July transformed Sri Lanka's social fabric in 1983, igniting a brutal civil war that would last for more than twenty-five years.
The Sri Lankan Civil War began on July 23, 1983, following an ambush on a military convoy that sparked a week of horrific anti-Tamil violence known as Black July. Estimates suggest that between 400 and 3,000 people were killed, while tens of thousands were forced to flee their homes. This tragedy fundamentally broke the trust between the island's ethnic communities, leading to an organized armed struggle.
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