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Sri Lankan soldiers in Jaffna marked the 68th anniversary of the army by donating blood last month, according to an official military website.
Troops from the 552 Brigade donated blood at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital last month “under the direction of Brigadier Jayantha Gunaratne”.
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Soldiers from the 17 Battalion Gemunu Watch also organised a separate campaign at the Base Hospital in Kayts to mark 9 years since the formation of the battalion.
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The Sri Lankan military has donated blood in Jaffna in previous years.
In 2014, a senior military official has said that Tamils in Jaffna are not “pure blood” anymore, due to the amount of blood donated by the Sri Lankan military, stating that,
“Our blood is in the majority of the Tamils that live here, therefore Tamils cannot call themselves pure Tamils anymore. Our army’s Sinhalese blood is in Tamils”.
Another military commander also commented that “people living in Jaffna had blood of the forces”.