President Maithripala Siriena yesterday hit out at former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka over the latter's controversial statements on national security.

Addressing a gathering in Kandy, Sirisena said such statements cause unnecessary panic among the public and destabilize the country. Fonseka recently stated that nearly 50% of trained terrorists are still at large, posing a grave threat to the country's security. The UNP MP also blamed the government for mishandling the terrorist threats.

"Such statemets are driven by petty political agendas. But those who make such claims do not think about their larger consequences. They cause fear among the public when the government has taken every possible step to ensure national security."

"We all know what happened in the country when those experts were heading the defence apparatus? We can't talk about the setbacks our armed forces suffered under the command of those experts," Sirisena said hitting out at the former Army Commander.