The International Truth and Justice Project Sri Lanka (ITJP) released a series of infographics this week, detailing casualty estimates during the final months of Sri Lanka’s 2009 military offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamils.
Examining different sources, including from the United Nations, census figures and World Bank data, ITJP found that the highest estimate of those killed during that final phase could be as large as 169,796.
UN analysis from the final week alone puts the figure at 17,000 killed, though other estimates state the number killed could be as high as 25,000 people.
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See more from ITJP here.
Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary, former Navy Admiral Jayanath Colombage, slammed UN estimates last month, claiming the Sri Lankan army had followed a “zero [civilian] casualties” strategy.
Read more about the onslaught in our feature examining the final days leading up to the 18th of May 2009 – a date remembered around the world as ‘Tamil Genocide Day’.
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