India’s ban on ‘dangerous’ LTTE to stay for five more years

India has extended the ban on the LTTE for five years with immediate effect on the grounds that the organisation's continued violent and disruptive activities has the potential to harm the integrity and sovereignty of India.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has been adopting a "strong anti-India posture and also continues to pose a grave threat to the security of Indian nationals", said a notification from the Union Home Ministry on Tuesday.

The ban has been extended under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.

LTTE was founded in 1976 by V Prabhakaran with the goal of creating an independent Tamil Eelam out of Sri Lanka. From clashes with the Sri Lankan military, the group in the early 80s launched a full-scale nationalist insurgency in the north and east of the country, carrying out major terrorist attacks against both military and civilian targets.

It pioneered suicide bombing, and in 1991, an suicide bomber killed Rajiv Gandhi in an attack on Indian soil. Among the other high-profile assassinations carried out by the Tamil Tigers was that of the Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993.