Sri Lankan Government issuing a statement expressed its heartfelt condolences to the Government and the people of the United Arab Emirates on the death of 45 UAE soldiers in Yemen.

The statement said, "It is with profound grief and sorrow that we learnt about the death of forty-five  soldiers from Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates  in Yemen while contributing to restore security and stability of the country.

"It was indeed unfortunate that this news reached us soon after the visit of  H. H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan,  Foreign Minister of United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka.

"The Government and the people of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka express their heartfelt condolences to the Government and the people of the United  Arab Emirates on this tragic incident."

The Government of Sri Lanka also said that it hopes peace and normalcy will be restored in the region as soon as possible.

The 45 soldiers who died on last Friday were part of a Gulf countries campaign led by Saudi Arabia called Operation "Restore Hope." The aim of the operation is to reinstall the "legitimate government" in Yemen.

The soldiers were killed during an accidental blast at an ammunition store of the 107th Brigdae in the eastern Yemeni oil province of Marib. It is the highest number of UAE soldiers killed in any military encounter.

Twenty two soldiers were killed at the scene, and another 23 died later of injuries received in the blast. The blast also killed a number of Yemenis.

(news.lk)