The aftermath of Sri Lanka's war

A Sri Lankan soldier carries a Tamil child away from the conflict zone on May 17 2009. Thousands of civilians had been held against their will by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as a human shield. The child is not accompanied by family members. Perhaps another orphan of this brutal war which lasted from 1982 to 2009.

The Tamil extremist waged war on successive elected governments, in order to carve out a mono-ethnic state for Tamils. They claimed to be fighting discriminatory laws, and for equal rights for Tamils. However, records indicate that any Sri Lankan government law or policy, which was deemed to be discriminatory, had been changed prior to the Tamil Tigers' existence. The Tamil Tiger movement's propaganda wing was tasked with making the movement appear as a liberation movement.

The photo above was taken by a staff photographer of the Sri Lanka Army.