Thursday, July 25, 2013 - 04.43 GMT

Army to reduce troop presence in North

http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201307/20130725army_reduce_troop_presence_north.htm

Sri Lanka Army plans to further reduce the number of troops it has stationed in the northern Jaffna peninsula, the Army Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya told the media Wednesday.The Army spokesman has announced that the Army has taken a decision to move troops from 13 small military camps located in the Walikamam sector of Jaffna District to the Palaly Cantonment. "The move will further reduce the presence of troops in that area," Brigadier Wanigasooriya has said adding that those areas for which Army has paid rent will be handed over to the original owners. "This is yet another step in the ongoing process of relocating the military in the Jaffna peninsula and reducing the presence of troops," he said. The Army has said earlier that the lands taken by the military for camps would be handed back to their original owners and the for the lands that cannot be returned due to national security considerations, the government will pay compensation to the owners.