There is "absolutely no threat to the security in the Northern region" the state minister for defence, Ruwan Wijewardene was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. 

"Certain groups of people are making groundless statements to incite fear in public," he reportedly added whilst speaking at an event in Diyagama. 

In recent days Sri Lankan government officials have sought to reassure the Sinhala electorate that there was no threat to national security in the North-East and that there would be no demilitarise of the area or removal of army camps. 

Sri Lankan Navy personnel have returned a food hall of the Varatharaja Perumal Kovil in Ponnalai after having occupied it for 23 years.

After the Army captured the area from the LTTE in 1995, the coast from Ponnalai to Keerimalai became inaccessible to civilians with only the Sri Lankan Navy occupying the region.

Facebook is to implement a new policy starting in Sri Lanka and later in Myanmar where it will start removing ‘misinformation’ that could incite violence.

Under the new rules, Facebook said it would create partnerships with local civil society groups to identify misinformation for removal, the New York Times reports.

Facebook has been criticised for allowing misinformation and hate speech to spread on its platform.

Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal has fixed a date for the appeal case of a Sri Lankan politician and 3 others who were convicted of murdering a British aid worker and raping his Russian girlfriend at a holiday resort in 2011, Adaderana reported. 

Sampath Vidanapathirana, the former chairman of Tangalle Prathesa Sabai and a close associate of the former Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa, was convicted of the murder after the British aid worker Khuram Shaikh was shot and stabbed whilst on holiday in southern Sri Lankan on Christmas Day. 

The Sri Lankan government is growing frustrated over China’s delays in concluding a Free Trade Agreement, the Nikkei Asian Review reports.

Colombo sent Beijing a formal request to resume talks over three months ago and has not received a response, with some observers saying China has turned a cold shoulder due to the current government’s hesitation to incur more debt.

The Chinese are reported to be “unhappy” about various clauses being put forward by Sri Lankan negotiators, including a proposal to review the agreement every ten years.

The JVP leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake warned parliament against transferring Mattala airport to India, arguing it would be a threat to national security. 

"Issues with national interest should be considered than losses or economic benefits of the airport. An airport is important in military affairs in a country. It can pose more threat to national security and sovereignty of the country," Mr Dissanayake was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. 

Explosives were recovered in Suthanthirapuram, Mullaitivu this week from private land, when a resident cleared a well inside his land.  

Ammunition was found inside the well, Sri Lankan police said. 

The police and navy began recovering the ammunititions yesterday with a court register in attendance. 

As part of their continuing involvement in civilian life in the North-East, the Sri Lankan military was seen planting coconut trees in Myliddy this week. 

Over 200 trees were planted as part of the project initiated by the Jaffna army commander, Major General Darshana Hettiarachchi. 

The decision by the Sri Lankan government to resume implementation of the death penalty on the island could lead to the loss of GSP-Plus preferential trade concession, reports AFP this week.

The report comes after heads of delegations of several Western states, including the European Union, wrote to Sri Lanka’s president expressing their opposition to the reported resumption of capital punishment.

"If Sri Lanka resumes capital punishment, Colombo will immediately lose the GSP-Plus status," an EU diplomatic source told AFP.

The head of Sri Lanka’s military declared opened a range of new buildings at military bases in Amparai last week.