The remains of Sri Lankan Peacekeepers Major H.W.D Jayawickrama and Sergeant S.S Wijekumara, who died during a UN Peacekeeping mission in Mali, were brought to Sri Lanka yesterday.

Military officers of the UN Peacekeeping Force, Sri Lanka  Army, State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardena, UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Hanaa Singer were present at the airport to accept the remains of the two soldiers. 

They died when an armoured vehicle, WMZ carrying Sri Lankan Peacekeeping troops on patrol in the general area of Douentza in West Africa’s trouble-torn Mali, came under a remote-controlled Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack on the morning of January 25. 

Three more Sri Lankan soldiers sustained injuries and were admitted to a nearby hospital after the explosion. 

The officers who lost their lives during the peacekeeping mission were posthumously promoted by the Sri Lankan Army.