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Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary pledged that “intelligence services were closely monitoring any terrorist activity” after another cache of arms and explosives were discovered in the Tamil North-East on Wednesday.
On Wednesday afternoon Sri Lankan police unearthed a large cache of arms, including land mines and a rocket propelled grenade launcher, from Iluppaikadavai in Mannar.
The land on which they were discovered housed the local Iluppaikadavai police station. It functioned in the area from 2008 until 2015, when it was shifted to a different location. The local agricultural services office is now housed on the premises.
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“The cache was apparently used during the civil war,” said Sri Lankan police spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekara, as Sri Lanka’s navy and army officers watched the arms being unearthed.
The incident follows the discovery of explosives, including an apparent suicide bomber vest, in Jaffna on Tuesday evening.
Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi responded by saying “intelligence services were closely monitoring any terrorist activity,” according to The Island.
“Even in the case of private lands in the North that had been occupied by the security forces during the war, they were being returned only after ensuring that it would not lead to any threat to the country’s security,” continued the defence secretary.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr Hettiarachchi said the incidents would not affect plans for the military in the North-East. When asked on whether this included demilitarisation of the Tamil areas, he responded by saying “it [demilitarisation] is not the right word”. “What we say is right sizing and right deployment [of security forces],” he added.
Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s Joint Opposition continued to raise concerns over “national security” with former president Mahinda Rajapaksa joining the chorus of opposition voices calling for further action.
The Daily Mirror reported Mr Rajapaksa as saying “this incident should not be regarded as something trivial, and suitable action should be taken to dispel the suspicion and the fear that is now developing in the country”.