Ravaya: 25,000 SLA soldiers deserted under Rajapaksa regime

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 2008, 19:20 GMT]
About twenty-five-thousand soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) have deserted their ranks since the war began under the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, media sources in Colombo quoted reports carried by the Sinhala weekly "Ravaya", published from Colombo. 15,000 soldiers have deserted ranks till January this year, an article based on a survey carried by Ravaya states.

SLA has been strictly enforcing checks on buses and transport services from battle front areas to south to nab deserting soldiers, according to the report.

Those who look like soldiers are also taken in for questioning by military police, the report adds.

About 700 soldiers have deserted from the SLA in two months, August and September, the article further states.

Superiors in the war front are said to be monitoring the activities of the soldiers under their control closely, the article adds.

Chronology: