Sri Lanka strengthens security in east ahead of polls

Sri Lanka has strengthened security in the eastern province ahead of local council elections scheduled to take place later this week, the police said on Monday. Police spokesman Ajith Rohana told Xinhua that additional police officers including special task force officers were sent to ensure there is no violence in those areas. "We have strengthened the police presence in the east of the country especially in Ampara and Batticaloa where there were some incidents reported," the police spokesman said. Elections for the local councils in the eastern province as well as two other provinces will be held on Saturday. However leading up to the elections there have been reports of clashes taking place in the eastern province. The ruling Unite People's Freedom Alliance and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress are the main two political parties contesting the elections in the east. Despite being a constituent party of the government the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress is contesting the elections independently. Election monitors said that violence had been reported in the eastern province involving members of the Unite People's Freedom Alliance and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress. "Normally at all elections the police is deployed to handle security but from Monday we deployed the special task force of the police as well to the eastern province to eliminate any violence," the police spokesman said. Most of the eastern province was once under the control of the Tamil Tiger rebels. The rebels were defeated by the military after 30 years of war three years ago.