Hundreds denounce army killing of Sri Lanka protesters

August 5, 2013 (AFP) - Several hundred anti-government supporters staged a rare protest Monday in Sri Lanka's capital to denounce a deadly army crackdown on villagers who were demonstrating against contaminated water supplies.




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Sri Lanka has denied that its troops were responsible for killing civilians or committing any war crimes. Around 300 followers of the left-wing JVP, or People's Liberation Front, shouted slogans and carried placards outside the Colombo Fort railway station against the regime of President Mahinda Rajapakse.

"The villagers asked for water, the government gave them bullets," read one placard at the protest, which came a day after the first of three people killed in the shooting was buried at the village of Weliweriya just outside Colombo.

The military opened fire last Thursday on thousands of unarmed residents who were protesting at the contamination of their ground water supply, allegedly by waste from a rubber glove factory.

The army has said it was forced to respond after coming under attack with petrol bombs.

Elite commandos from the Special Task Force withdrew from the village on Monday after staging a show of force over the weekend when the first of the three funerals was held.