A United States Air Force medical team will examine former fighters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka, following claims that they were injected with poisonous substances at government detention or rehabilitation centres. Tamil politicians have alleged that 104 LTTE cadres died because of the injections, which they said made them feel physically weak, according to Dawn.
Chief Minister of the Northern Province CV Wigneswaran has demanded an internal investigation into claims that these injections were given as part of an "inoculation programme" after the cadres surrendered in May 2009, towards the end of the civil war. The US medical team is currently in the Tamil-dominated Northern Province.
The government, however, rejected the Tamil National Alliance's claims, calling them "false allegations". State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene said, "It is sad to hear some politicians in the North making false allegations when the government is making a genuine effort to resolve the issue of the Northern people. Anyone...can visit the rehabilitation camps after obtaining permission from the government and see for themselves the work that is being done."
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