Sri Lanka, May 18 -- Today (18) marks 16 years since the end of Sri Lanka's three-decade-long civil war, which concluded with the death of Velupillai Prabhakaran, leader of the armed separatist group - the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) - by Sri Lankan security forces at the Nandikadal Lagoon on May 18, 2009.

This day commemorates the defeat of the LTTE, a terrorist group that had waged war in the country for over thirty years.

The brutal conflict came to an end with the elimination of Prabhakaran by Sri Lanka's armed forces, who are referred to by many as war heroes.

In addition to ending the war, the country's security forces carried out what is considered the world's largest humanitarian operation, rescuing thousands of civ...