COLOMBO: The US air force’s medical team will examine fighters of the former Tamil Tigers outfit to verify allegations that the Sri Lankan army had injected them with poisonous substances after their surrender in May 2009, the chief minister of the Tamil-majority Northern Province said on Tuesday.

C.V. Wigneswaran called for international investigations on allegations that when LTTE cadres were undergoing detention and rehabilitation after surrendering during the last phase of the war in May 2009, they were given injections as part of an “inoculation programme”.

Over the past few weeks, Tamil politicians and media have highlighted the death of 104 ex-combatants, claiming that some of them had complained of physical weakness after release from detention or rehabilitation.

Chief Minister Wigneswaran told the Northern Province’s council that he had discussed the issue with US Ambassador Atul Keshap when he visited Jaffna to review the working of a medical camp set up by his country’s air force.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2016