Residents of Vavuniya were alarmed by an unexpected patrol by Special Task Force troops around the town while Deepavali celebrations were ongoing on Sunday.

In some places the troops stopped their patrol bikes and questioned residents.

Residents said patrols and search operations were happening more and more frequently in the district, with ad-hoc check points set up where they had previously been dismantled.

The US Acting Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of South and Central Asia in the State Department told the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week that the appointment of Shavendra Silva to the head of Sri Lanka’s army had “deeply concerned” Washington.

“We are deeply concerned by the appointment of Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva as Army Commander and the negative message the appointment sends for Sri Lanka’s purported commitment to post-war accountability,” Alice Wells told the committee.

Wells, who is the top US diplomat for South Asia, went on to add,

Tamil demonstrators staged a protest in Jaffna today, as former Sri Lankan defence secretary and front running presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa visited the city and met with a notorious paramilitary leader.

The presidential candidate for the United National Party (UNP) Sajith Premadasa has pledged to protect accused war criminal Shavendra Silva “no matter what”, at a rally in Homagama this weekend.

"No matter what pressures, I will protect Shavendra Silva and he will continue as the Army Commander,” declared Premadasa.

Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa paid a Deepavali visit to Batticaloa prison to see his associate and paramilitary leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, who is currently in remand for the 2005 assassination of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Joseph Pararajasingham.

Tamil families of the disappeared in Vavuniya continued their protest for the 981st day.

Protesters boycotted Deepavali celebrations to continue the rally.

"How can we celebrate festivals when we don't know if our children are dead or alive?" protesters said. "We have been on the road here every day, for New Year, Deepavali, Christmas. We will be here until we have answers."

The Tamil National Alliance’s leader R Sampanthan said that the Tamil people wanted “credible and durable power-sharing” in comments made to The Hindu this week, ahead of Sri Lanka’s presidential elections.

British troops from the Royal Air Force (RAF) were training Sri Lankan troops in Trincomalee last week, as the UK continues its military engagement with Sri Lanka despite concerns over human rights abuses.

An RAF Force Protection team delivered “a bespoke Force Protection Executives Course” to a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Regiment, according to an RAF press release.

The Swiss government hosted a workshop with Tamil diaspora members from around the world last week, to discuss transitional justice initiatives and processes.

The conference, organised by the Human Security Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, saw Tamil diaspora members gather in Zurich “to discuss potential contributions of the Tamil diaspora to Dealing with the Past initiatives and processes,” said a Swiss government statement.

“Switzerland has been supporting Dealing with the Past efforts for several years,” the statement continued.