The National War Heroes’ Day commemoration ceremony to pay tribute to the war heroes, who lost their lives in the thirty-year-long civil war, has gotten underway at the War Heroes’ Memorial in Battaramulla.

The event kicked off at 4.30 p.m. under the patronage of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Former Presidents, Prime Ministers, Deputy Ministers, the Speaker the Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Chiefs of Defence, as well as Commanders of the three armed forces including the Inspector-General of Police and the war heroes who were injured in the war, the relatives of the fallen war heroes as well as school cadet groups, will be to be invited to participate in this war hero commemoration ceremony.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan security forces have arranged special security and traffic plans ahead of the 14th commemoration of the National War Heroes’ Day commemoration.

Thereby, security has been beefed up near the parliament complex while a special traffic arrangement is also in place coinciding with the ceremony.

Speaking in this regard, police media spokesperson SSP Nihal Thalduwa said between 3.45 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. today, vehicular movement will be limited on the entry road to Parliament from Kiyannam Junction to Polduwa Junction.

Sri Lanka marks 14 years since the three-decade civil war in Sri Lanka drew to an end after the leader of the armed separatist group LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed by the Sri Lankan security forces at the Nandikadal Lagoon on May 18, 2009.

The government dedicated May 19 every year as the National War Heroes’ Day or the ‘Victory Day’ with the objective of paying tribute to the cherished memories of all those War Heroes during a state ceremony at the Battaramulla War Heroes’ Monument.