The Sri Lankan military commander heading Jaffna declared that camps in the North will remain in order to maintain “national security”.

Major General Nandana Udawatte told journalists at the Palali military base in Jaffna that currently the security forces was ensuring there was no security threat in the North, in the wake of violent protests against the rape and murder of a Tamil schoolgirl last month.

However, he went on to say that “today’s security situation can change in the future so we need to keep that in mind as well”.

“The Palaly base is not just for Palali but the entire Jaffna,” continued the commander, insisting that the removal of the army bases could result in a threat to national security. The army commander also conceded that there were still 93 military camps situated in the Jaffna peninsula alone.

He went on to state the army was “a very disciplined unit” and denied all links with the drug trade in the North-East.

Earlier this week, the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, CV Wigneswaran said the prevalence of drug circulation in the North-East had only increased after the end of the conflict between Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), called for Sri Lanka’s military forces to be retracted from the area.

TNA MP S Sritharan also spoke out on the issue stating the increase in the pedalling of drugs to youths in the North was part of a "genocidal agenda".

See more in our earlier posts:

Increased drug problem since Sri Lanka's military arrived in North-East says CV Wigneswaran (08 June 2015)

Genocidal agenda behind increase in drugs in North - TNA MP (10 June 2015)