The Commander of the Sri Lankan Army said that the military was still working on the “psychological elimination of the threat” since the end of the armed conflict and rejected suggestions of reducing the size of Sri Lanka’s armed forces.

Speaking in an interview to Adaderana, Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake justified the increased involvement of Sri Lanka’s expanding military in civilian affairs, saying,

“Winning a war of this nature has basically two parts. That is physical elimination of a threat and psychological elimination of the threat. What we achieved in May 2009 is physical elimination of the threat. Thereafter achieving psychological elimination is a process and there are no shortcuts to it,” added Ratnayake.

Sri Lanka’s External Affairs ministry has confirmed that a visa for US journalist Gardiner Harris has been “put on hold” following advice from the Sri Lankan High Commission in India, reports the Sunday Leader.

Harris, South Asia Correspondent for The New York Times, tweeted that he had applied for a visa more than 50 days ago, yet was still waiting to hear from Sri Lankan authorities.

I applied for a J-visa to Sri Lanka on June 30. 50 days later, still no word. Press freedom? @Abeynayake @tingilye @CHOGMSriLanka — Gardiner Harris (@GardinerHarris) August 18, 2014

 

Tamil National Alliance MP P Ariyanenthiran called for the release of Tamil labourers, held against their will in Kurdistan.

Over 100 Tamils from Batticaloa were being held as hostages, he charged in the letter dated August 11, adding that family members of the men approached him about the issue.

"[...] hundreds of employees [...] have been taken into custody as hostages by the Iraq forces of in Kurdistan Republic of Iraq where severe [clashes  are taking place]," Mr Ariyanenthiran said in the letter.

The police spokesperson Ajith Rohana confirmed on Thursday that a 14 year old girl in Mannar had been sexually assaulted by a Sri Lankan army soldier, reports BBC Tamil.

The attack took place at the beginning of this month said Rohana, adding that a complaint had been filed with the police four days after.

A medical examination by the legal medical officer confirmed the 14 year old had been sexually assaulted, he added.