Sri Lanka marks a decade of the end of brutal civil war

Colombo, May 18

Sri Lanka, still reeling under the scars of the Easter Sunday bomb blasts, on Saturday marked 10 years of the end of the nearly brutal civil war between the government and the LTTE even as it came under criticism for failing to ensure justice for the victims.

The Sri Lankan government on May 18, 2009, killed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE) chief Velupillai Prabhakaran in the coastal village of in Mullaittivu, bringing to an end the bloody armed conflict fought mainly in the north and east of the island nation.

At least 100,000 people were killed in the over three-decade-long conflict. Thousands of people, including security personnel, are still reported to be missing after the war.

Hundreds of people gathered in parts of Northern Sri Lanka to remember the victims of the war, the Colombo Gazette reported. The government will commemorate the war heroes during the Victory Day celebrations on Sunday, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

It asked the public to light a “Lamp of Peace” in the memory of those who laid down their lives for the country. — PTI 

Observe Vesak amid tight security

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday granted an amnesty to 762 convicts to mark Vesak, also known as ‘Buddha Jayanti’, being celebrated by the Buddhist majority nation amid tight security arrangements in the wake of Easter Sunday bombings. The Sri Lankan government has restricted the five-day national Vesak festival celebrations to just two days citing the prevailing security situation in the country following the massive Easter Sunday bombings on April 21.