Army rejects US claim shelling killed hundreds of families in north

Saturday, 11 January 2014 07:56 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Sri Lanka Army has denounced the US allegation that military shelling had killed hundreds of families at the St Anthony’s Ground in Iranapallai as baseless. Military Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said it was “surprising to see a baseless allegation of this nature being released

by the US Embassy without credible verification”. “According to people who live in that area, the LTTE had used this ground as a place to hand over dead bodies of their cadre who succumbed to injuries received during fighting. If this place was not safe, the LTTE would never have used it for that purpose. They also confirm that there never was an incident of shelling on this ground when civilians were present,” the Military Spokesman said in an email denial to media personnel. Brigadier Wanigasooriya said the reason for this release was best known to the Embassy, but warned that it could be part of a much larger campaign to be launched in the near future. “It could also be an attempt to give credence to otherwise baseless allegations that have been propagated by some governments and separatist elements with the support of some international media organisations,” he said.