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US de-mining experts to begin work in northern Sri Lanka |
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A US-trained team of experts is to begin clearing mines and unexploded ordnance in the once war-torn Jaffna peninsula, the country’s embassy in Sri Lanka has said.
The 26-member team of Mozambique nationals, accompanied by four mine-detecting dogs, arrived on April 20 and left for Sri Lanka’s north the same day. The Quick Reaction De-mining Force (QRDF), which will be stationed in Jaffna, is a permanent U.S.-trained team deployed by the U.S. State Department.
“The team has wide experience in removing landmines and unexploded munitions in conflict areas,” the embassy said.
Clearing Jaffna, once the battleground of the bloody separatist war waged by Tamil Tiger rebels against government troops, will pave the way for the return of thousands of Tamils displaced by decades of fighting. Around a million people have been made refugees, fleeing to other parts of the country and overseas, mainly India.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has refused to oversee any large-scale rehabilitation effort till conditions are right for the return of the displaced people.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe requested U.S. assistance to clear the Jaffna peninsula of mines, laid by both the security forces and Tamil rebels, after signing a historic ceasefire pact with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in February.
The US has emerged as a key backer of Norway’s efforts to open peace talks between the government and the LTTE.
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