Sri Lanka’s army commander reiterated his support for troops accused of committing mass atrocities during the final stage of the armed conflict, stating that they were “war heroes” who carried out a “humanitarian operation”.
Speaking on the 69th anniversary of the Sri Lankan army, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake told soldiers that “I distinctly believe that, you will pursue to maintain the national and international reputation earned by the Sri Lankan army over the last six decades”.
“This peaceful environment was brought by brave war heroes who actively participated in the humanitarian operations,” he continued.
The final massive military offensive by Sri Lankan security forces in 2009 saw tens of thousands of Tamil civilians massacred, with civilian targets including hospitals routinely shelled, sexual violence deployed and those who attempted to surrender executed.
The commander went on to state that the military was “fully prepared to perform any task for the best interest of the nation and to prevent re-emergence of insurgencies in our soil”. His comments come as the Sri Lankan military remains massively deployed across the Tamil North-East, despite almost 10 years passing since the end of the armed conflict.
See the full text of his comments here.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
