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| Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya took office as the 19th Commander of the Sri Lanka Army on 15th July 2009 at Army Headquarters in Colombo, giving pride of place to military traditions and religious observances.
The newly appointed Commander was accorded a Guard Turnout and a Guard of Honour by soldiers of his own Regiment, Sri Lanka Armoured Corps. Commander afterwards received greetings of his senior officers and proceeded to his office for the inauguration. Members of the Maha Sangha recited Seth Pirith to invoke blessings on him as he symbolically placed his signature on the first official document. A short press briefing followed and the new Commander addressed his officers towards the end of the proceedings. |
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| De-mining work prior to resettlement in Mannar District is now in progress. Army Engineer troops with the assistance of de-mining agencies are raking inch by inch in affected areas to unearth and defuse anti personnel mines, land mines and other booby traps laid by LTTE terrorists during the period LTTE was fighting against government troops. |
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| LATE terrorist leader, Prabhakaran used to personally supervise the LTTE air wing and maintain close rapport with terrorist pilots in the LTTE air wing. After acquiring at least seven mini aircraft, mostly SLIN-type in the past decade or so, LTTE boasted of their superior air capability before the wing was completely decimated by heroic War Heroes, amply supported by Sri Lanka Air Force.
Tiger supremo equally wanted to test for himself to find how those “kurumbetti” type light aircraft were flown and their technicalities. An LTTE DVD found from an LTTE hideout during the height of the recently concluded humanitarian operation in Vellamullivaikkal, Mullaittivu district affirms how the terrorist leader was watching the inaugural flight of an LTTE light aircraft some years back. He was seen giving instructions to those LTTE aircraft specialists present on the ceremonial occasion after he addressed teenage fighters.
At the inauguration, Prabhakaran with much difficulty lit the brass lamp by himself after several attempts, though many wigs were available. It appears that gushing winds did not permit him to do the lighting for some time as the video displays. Later, the terrorist leader was seen walking to the aircraft kept parked in front of him. Two terrorists, dressed in blue coloured uniforms, started off the engine after several attempts. The aircraft took off and remained airborne taking three rounds over the area before it landed again. A few aerial pictures taken during the flight have also been recorded on the LTTE DVD. However, all what is seen on this video is now history and this is published to refresh our memories and to show how Prabhakaran has held all of us hostage for well over three decades. |
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| Interview given to Rupavahini by the Commander of the Army General Sarath Fonseka - Part V |
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