Army to receive bodies of two Lankan peace troopers this week

By Shanika Sriyananda

The bodies of the two slain Sri Lankan UN peace troopers will be handed over to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) after the holding of final farewell procedures of the UN Peacekeeping Mission Headquarters in Mali, within a few days.

The two peacekeeping troopers identified as Captain H.W.D. Jayawickrama of the 11th Sri Lanka Light Infantry and Corporal S.S. Wijekumara of the 1st Mechanised Infantry Regiment were killed when the wheel armoured vehicle in which they were travelling came under attack by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at 6:30 a.m. on Friday.

 “We expect that the two bodies will be flown to Sri Lanka by the end of this week,” Army Spokesman Brigadier Sumith Atapattu said.

They were caught in the remote-controlled IED attack at the Douentza in the Mopti region in Mali when they were returning after a mission.

Brig. Attapattu said that the SLA was in contact with the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission Headquarters in Mali, which was conducting an investigation into the incident.

He said that the Sri Lankan UN Peacekeeping contingent with 200 peacekeeping troopers, including 15 officers, which was deployed in December 2017 was to conclude its mission in a year.

The UN Peacekeeping troops who were deployed to support the transitional authorities of Mali to stabilise the security situation in the country were attached to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission (MINUSMA) in Mali, established by Security Council Resolution 2100 of 25 April 2013.

The SLA soldiers who sustained injuries in the attack and were airlifted for treatment at Gao, Mali have been identified as Corporal M.G.S. Kumarasinghe of the 1st Sri Lanka Engineers from Panwilathenna, Lance Corporal K.C. Pushpakumara of the 1st Sri Lanka Engineers and Lance Corporal C.H.M.S. Chandrasekara of the 12th Sri Lanka Engineers. 

According to the SLA, Captain Jayawickrama is from Polonnaruwa and Corporal Wijekumara is from Polpithigama.

Issuing a statement, the Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq said that UN Secretary-General António Guterres had condemned the attack on the troops of the MINUSMA.

“The attacks targeting the UN peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law,” he said.

Meanwhile, Guterres has called on the Mali authorities to spare no efforts in identifying the perpetrators so that they could be brought to justice soon and the UN Security Council has also issued a statement condemning the attack on the Sri Lankan peacekeepers.

Expressing their deepest condolences and paying tribute to the peacekeepers who risk their lives, the 15-member body of the UN Security Council called on the Government of Mali to swiftly investigate this attack and bring the perpetrators to justice.

They said that involvement in planning, directing, sponsoring or conducting attacks against MINUSMA peacekeepers constituted a basis for sanctions pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolutions.

However, according to Brig. Atapattu, the SLA will continue to support the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mali by sending the next contingent of Sri Lankan peacekeepers soon, once the contingent sent in December 2017 completes its mission.