Sri Lanka's army commander, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake has dismissed claims by the Inspector General Police that former LTTE cadres are responsible for the recent violent incidents in the North-East and asserted national security was not at risk.

Asked by The Sunday Island about the reports of 'LTTE re-emergence', he said, "You mentioned the word ‘LTTE’, I didn’t. I don’t like people saying ‘LTTE’ for every incident. My point is that it’s very easy to connect the LTTE whenever something happens, though it is far from the truth".

"There are other subversive groups in the north. ‘Ava’ is not the LTTE. There are people creating problems in the south, including university students, but you can’t just say they belong to one group or another. You can’t identify them with the 1971-1981 group either. It’s a label."

Lieutenant General Senanayake said though one former LTTE member had been present at the incident that was coincidental, Ceylon Today reported. 

"Only one non-rehabilitated LTTE member was reportedly involved in the Kopay incident. But that was also coincidental. None of these incidents are the result of the former LTTE members, rehabilitated or not, coming together. Therefore, it is not a threat to the national security."

"Sri Lanka's threat perception has two aspects; internally, after 2009 there has been no major militaristic conflict which we consider as an achievement. There are smaller, more isolated incidents that take place but they are not a major threat to our national security. If after 2009, peace was fragile, now we are going towards solid peace."

"Externally, we have never had any militaristic threats. There are other economical threats. Criminals are using Sri Lanka as a transit for narcotic trafficking. These take place due to the strategically important location of our country in the Indian Ocean. These non-traditional threats are not militaristic in nature. The armed forces and the Police are on alert to ensure that this will be minimised.
The journalists also inquired as to whether the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which has been categorised as a specific topic of discussion for the Colombo Defence Seminar, has any special interest in the country with regards to being a security threat.

"We are clearly not under any immediate threat from the ISIS," he said.  "But the organisation's actions and how it has impacted the world as a whole will definitely be discussed during the seminar; which is why it has been mentioned. Just because, ISIS will be discussed during the CDS does not mean that the organisation is a threat to our national security."