Colonel Nalin Herath, the Defence Ministry Spokesman, dismissed the claims as false, stating that there is no validity to the reports.

However, he acknowledged the presence of ammunition which has passed its shelf life being stored in military-owned warehouses in the country.

Colonel Herath clarified that “these stocks do not belong to the Ministry of Defence but to a foreign private company, which has been instructed to promptly remove or destroy the surplus ammunitions due to security concerns.

“The Ministry of Defence has directed this particular company to take immediate action to eliminate the stock from Sri Lanka, deeming it unnecessary to retain them in the warehouses any longer,” he said.

Meanwhile, defence sources have disclosed that the stock of surplus ammunition belonged to a Chinese company. Sources also said the company tried to sell this surplus ammunition stock to Poland through a Sri Lankan firm, Cosmic Technologies Private Limited last year. However, the sale was thwarted due to international pressure, leading to the abandonment of the plan at that time.

According to a recent report by Russia Today (RT) on its Telegram channel, the deal reportedly involves a Polish company named “Level 11 SP. Z O.O” and a Lankan firm, “Cosmic Technologies Private Limited.”

DN