Category: Defense

October 2, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military has formally discharged nearly 25,000 security personnel who deserted the army at the height of fighting with Tamil rebels, officials said Friday.Military officials said some 20,000 troops in the army and about 5,000 from the navy and air force had been taken off the books of their […]

September 20, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is seeking foreign money for an ambitious plan to rehabilitate tens of thousands of former Tamil Tiger rebels and has already collected 23 million dollars, officials said Sunday. The Tamil Tigers, who fought for a separate homeland from 1972, were defeated by Sri Lankan troops in mid-May when […]

September 11, 2009 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan court on Friday released on bail two members of the Tamil Tiger rebel group who gave themselves up a month before the military leadership of their movement was wiped out, officials said.Court officials said former Tiger spokesman Velayudam Dayanidi, better known as Daya Master, and a top […]

Sept 09, 2009 (LBO) – The United States military’s Pacific Command is providing training and equipment to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to helps it clear landmines in the island’s former war zone, the US embassy said. This training will build additional SLA capacity to clear mines in the Northern Province and expedite the safe […]

Sept 05, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s navy commissioned 90 officers and an offshore patrol vessel last weekend as it continues to expand, having defeated the powerful Tamil Tiger naval wing.Senior defence officials said the navy’s future focus will be on protecting the island’s ocean resources and patrolling the surrounding seas to ensure terrorism, which […]

September 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has imported equipment to speed up mine clearing in the former war zone in the island’s north, the defence ministry said Saturday. The mine-clearing machines imported from Slovakia would be used to accelerate resettlement of people driven out of the area during the height of fighting, the ministry […]

September 3, 2009 (AFP) – A group of former child soldiers from Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels have won jobs on construction sites in Malaysia after undergoing re-training, the government here said Thursday.The seven men were among hundreds of former child soldiers who surrendered in the months before government troops finally defeated the Tigers in […]

August 26, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military on Wednesday said a disturbing video clip broadcast in Britain allegedly showing its troops executing prisoners was a fabrication designed to “discredit” its armed forces.The footage, aired by Channel 4 in Britain, was apparently shot during the final stages of the army’s defeat of Tamil Tiger separatists, […]

August 20, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military is to send more troops to clear land mines in areas recently wrested from Tamil rebel control so that civilians can return to their homes, the top army officer said Thursday. Jayasuriya said his aim was to support a massive reconstruction effort in areas once held by […]

August 19, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government plans to keep up record defence spending despite its recent victory over Tamil rebels that ended nearly four decades of fighting, a senior official said. Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse said the military needed to be modernised and payments made on hardware bought on credit. Sri Lanka […]

Aug 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s new coast guard has begun setting up bases and will get vessels from the navy for initial patrol work to protect ocean resources and for maritime security, its director-general Daya Dharmapriya said. The coast guard will get vessels for both offshore and inshore patrolling and also intends to […]

August 7, 2009 (AFP) – The new head of the defeated Tamil Tiger separatist group was being interrogated in Sri Lanka Thursday, having been flown here following his capture in Thailand, reports said. Selvarasa Pathmanathan, better known as K.P., was brought back to Sri Lanka on Thursday and was being questioned at an undisclosed location, […]