Sri Lanka commemorated the ninth anniversary of the end of its civil war as a divided nation, with minority Tamils calling for an international investigation into alleged wartime atrocities and the government defending soldiers from allegations. He said even though some accuse the military of war crimes, such allegations haven't been formally levied by world bodies such as the U.N. Human Rights Council. At another ceremony held on Friday, C.V. Wigneswaran, chief minister of Tamil-dominated Northern Province, called for an international investigation into civilian deaths during the war. Sri Lankan troops defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, ending more than a quarter-century of separatist civil unrest. Both sides were accused of serious human rights violations.

Source: ABC News May 19, 2018 15:32 UTC