Army to stay in North & East – Commander Shuns claim by Wigneswaran

Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake said that expediting the removal of Army Camps in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, is not suitable under the present circumstances.

At a media briefing on Thursday (28) in Kandy, he said that according to the Chief Minister of the Northern Province there are 180,000 soldiers based in the region.

He said that this claim was incorrect adding that soldiers have to be deployed in those areas according to the requirements of the country.

Lt Gen Senanayake made these comments after participating in religious observances where the respective Army flags were offered to the Sacred Tooth Relic to coincide with the Sri Lanka Army Commemoration Day which falls on 10 October.

The Army Commander also said that he was happy that the Chief Minister of the Northern Province visited Kandy to understand the thinking of the people in the South.

He said the responsibility of national security is assigned to the President, the State Ministry of Defence, the combined security forces, Police and the Civil Defence Force and decisions are made within each of these institutions whenever it is relevant.

Even though various opinions can be expressed in politics but when it comes to national and State security of the country, decisions have to be made at Government level, he further said.

The soldiers have been deployed in the North and East based on an analysis done on the security aspects of the country.

The Army Commander also handed over a donation to the Sri Dalada Maligawa via the Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela.