The Sri Lankan army carried out a military exercise with international troops in the Tamil homeland last month, with senior commanders accused of war crimes overseeing operations.
Thousands of Sri Lankan soldiers participated in the exercise which reportedly had foreign military officers and observers from Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Russia, Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria and Zambia.
Shavendra Silva, whose appointment as chief of the Sri Lankan military has sparked international condemnation, oversaw the operations.
Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunaratne, accused of involvement in the abduction of Tamil youths, was also in attendance.
According to an official Sri Lankan military website, the three-week long Exercise 'Cormorant Strike X - 2019’ (FTX) focused on “Patrolling, Infiltration, Counter-filtration, Reconnaissance and Surveillance, Combat Tracking, Link-up, Caches, Demolitions, Raids, Ambushes, Cut-off and Blocks, Rescue Missions, Cat Sniping and Urban Fighting, VIP Protection, HALO-Casting, Combat Diving, Cyber Security, Counter CBRN etc and other strategic training modules”.
It concluded with a “multi-pronged joint amphibious attack on enemy hideouts” on the beaches of the coastal town of Kuchchaveli in Trincomalee.
The exercise is the latest in a series of operations that have taken place with foreign troops in Sri Lanka, as military ties continue despite concerns of human rights abuses.
