Norway asks if army demob is possible

Rankin queries whether North has 150,000 troops

by Shamindra Ferdinando-February 20, 2014, 

Maj. Gen. Udaya Perera greets Norwegian ambassador Lochen

British High Commissioner John Rankin has queried whether the post-war  Sri Lankan Army (SLA) deployment in the Jaffna peninsula is as high as 150,000 personnel. The envoy posed the question to Jaffna Security Forces Commander, Maj. Gen. Udaya Perera when they met in Palaly yesterday. Maj. Gen. Perera recently succeeded Maj. Gen. Mahinda Hathurusinghe.

Maj. Gen. Perera told Rankin that there was no basis for the latter’s assessment.

Army headquarters said that even at the height of the conflict, the maximum SLA presence in Jaffna peninsula was at about 45,000 personnel, deployed on both defensive and offensive roles. Army headquarters said that even Sri Lanka’s largest ever multi-pronged ground offensive in the Vanni (March 2007 to May 2009) involved less than 100,000 personnel.

The British HC raised the issue of SLA deployment in the Jaffna peninsula in the wake of Norwegian Ambassador Grete Lochen questioning the possibility of further reducing the SLA strength in Jaffna peninsula as well as demobilising troops.

HC Rankin last year went to the extent of contradicting President Mahinda Rajapaksa as regards the strength of troops deployed in the Jaffna peninsula.

The SLA deployment came up for discussion when Ambassador Lochen met Maj. Gen. Perera at the Security Forces headquarters in Palaly.

Maj. Gen. Perera told Ambassador Lochen that the SLA presence in the Jaffna peninsula had been considerably reduced since the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009. The SLA had also abandoned almost all sentry points previously manned by troops, Maj. Gen. Perera told the Norwegian envoy, while emphasising the necessity to maintain adequate troops in the peninsula to face any eventuality. 

The Jaffna army chief said that the SLA had to be mindful of the possibility of the police needing its backing in case extremist political elements caused chaos in the peninsula.

Maj. Gen. Perera stressed that the military presence was nothing but a necessity though troops were now confined to camps.

Asked by Ambassador Lochen whether there was a possibility of demobilising the SLA, Maj. Gen stressed that such a course of action couldn’t be implemented without a proper plan.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is on record as having said that battlefield victory over the LTTE wouldn’t have been a reality unless President Mahinda Rajapaksa had authorised the increase of the SLA’s strength to 220,000 officers and men. At the onset of eelam war IV in August 2006, the SLA had about 116,000 personnel, the majority of them deployed in defensive posture in the Northern theatre of operations.

 The Maj. Gen. assured that the SLA was in the process of gradually decreasing its strength.

Much to the surprise of the Jaffna commander, the Norwegian envoy expressed concern about the army making available vegetables grown by troops in the Jaffna market. The Jaffna chief explained the necessity to provide vegetables at affordable prices, though the military had stopped the practice.

 Ambassador Lochen was accompanied by Ms Dagny Mjos, Counsellor and Ms Hanne Pilrem, Senior Advisor.