Remains of fallen SL peacekeepers to arrive on Saturday

The remains of the Sri Lankan Army Captain and the Sri Lankan Army trooper, who were killed in an IED attack during the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mali, are to be brought back to the country on February 02.

A UN aircraft carrying the remains of the two fallen peacekeepers are slated to arrive at the Bandaranaike International Airport on the 2nd of February.

According to the Army media unit, remains will be formally delivered to the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake and the Director General of the Personnel Administration by MINUSMA Force Commander, Lieutenant General Dennis Gyllisporre in a military parade held at the airport.

Military funerals for the fallen UN Peacekeepers are to be held in Polonnaruwa and Polpithigama, the residential areas of the deceased soldiers, Army media unit said.

The Two army officers, late Major H.W.D. Jayawickrama and Sergeant S.S. Wijekumara, were posthumously promoted, the Army media unit further said.

Reportedly, following the formal reception, the remains are to be sent to Negombo Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

On the 25th of January, a Sri Lankan Army Captain and a Sri Lankan Army trooper were killed while three other Sri Lankan soldiers had sustained injuries in an IED attack during the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mali.

An armoured vehicle, WMZ carrying Sri Lankan Peacekeeping troops on patrol in the general area of Douentza in West Africa’s trouble-torn Mali, had come under a remote-controlled Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack around 6.30 a.m. in local Mali time.