Sri Lanka Army announced that it had commenced islandwide raids to nab army deserters. Accordingly, over 500 army deserters were arrested during the operations conducted on Thursday (9) alone. Military Spokesman, Brigadier Roshan Seneviratne said that the deserted officers and soldiers have been given several amnesties in the recent past and accordingly, 10 officers and 7,816 other rankers have received their legal discharge from the respective regiments. The general amnesty ended on December 31, 2016. The Brigadier said that the raids will be conducted to arrest the Army personnel who are Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL).

Source: The Nation February 13, 2017 12:59 UTC