Sri Lanka’s state minister of defence said “arrangements are being made to strengthen security at all times," as he sought to reiterate his government’s commitment to strengthening the military this week.
"I must stress that under the advice of President Maithripala Sirisena, the guidance of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and all security chiefs of security, arrangements are being made to strengthen security at all times," Ruwan Wijewardene told a meeting in Biyagama.
He went on to state that his government gave the “utmost priority” to “national security” and dismissed claims that the Sri Lankan military had been weakened.
His statement comes after the military released its own statement this week, denying it has closed any military camps and maintained that it remained “on alert to face any eventualities”.
The former head of Sri Lanka’s army slammed attempts to release military held lands in the North-East to Tamil civilians as “stupid” last month and vowed to block any attempts at demilitarisation of the region, as Tamil calls for the army to leave continue.
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