The commander of Sri Lanka’s army claimed that his forces had the support of “nearly 100% of the Tamil people” in an interview to a Sinhala magazine last month, yet noted that the military in the North-East had to remain vigilant.

Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, also stated that the military continues to “maintain surveillance all the time” as the “'Eelam' ideology still persists”.

In his interview, which was translated into English by the Sri Lankan army, the commander went on to claim that the military had “launched the world's largest humanitarian operation” during the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009. Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were slaughtered in the military operation, with numerous reports of mass atrocities taking place. The commander however claimed that Tamil civilians at the time “reached us in search of our security because they confided in us”.

He also denied that the military was obstructing investigations into the military’s conduct, stating that “we have cooperated fully with all law suits since it is our duty and the responsibility.”

However, he then went on to note that “if the conduct of respective investigations does not move forward with the speed it deserves, the Army cannot be held responsible”. ”No one can accuse us of 'not cooperating',” he concluded.