The Sri Lankan military carried out an exercise where troops dispersed protestors, at the army’s Battalion Training School (BTS) at Puthukkuddiyirippu last month.
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Soldiers, carrying rifles and dressed in riot gear, were seen carrying out exercises against a mock protest group who were holding placards.
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The exercise saw the troops march towards the protestors, carrying a sign which warns that “if you cross the white line we will shoot you”.
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The latest exercise comes amidst political turmoil in Colombo and as several Tamil protests continue in the North-East. Recent years have seen a rise in Tamil protest, including locals who have called for the release of military occupied land and families of the disappeared calling for action on enforced disappearances.
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The Sri Lankan military continues to station tens of thousands of soldiers across the North-East, with the Mullaitivu district alone seeing as much as 1 soldier for every two civilians according to a report published by the Jaffna-based think tank, the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Reasearch.
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