Sri Lanka’s defence secretary lashed out at Tamil politicians this week, as he criticised demands for “devolution of power” and offered military training to Zambia.
Kamal Gunaratne celebrated the defeat of the LTTE in a meeting with a visiting Zambian army official, but claimed the “the challenge of defeating its separatist ideology still remains”.
“Some Tamil politicians are attempting to propagate it in the minds of Tamil people,” continued Gunaratne.
Gunaratne, who is accused of overseeing mas atrocities as he commanded Sri Lanka’s 53 Division during an offensive that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, went on to claim that the “aspirations of majority common Tamil people are different from the ideology of those politicians since it was the innocent Tamil people who were battered under LTTE terrorism and they do not want a separate country”.
He continued to praise the 2009 military offensive, despite the well documented massacres that took place. Gunaratne even offered military training to the visiting Zambian Army Chief Lieutenant General W.M Sikazwe, who reportedly said the Zambian military “would greatly be benefited by the Sri Lankan military’s innovative asymmetric warfare tactics”.
See more from Sri Lanka’s military here.
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