"The number of troops in the Jaffna Peninsula, at present has been further reduced to around 15,000, a reduction of over 60 percent troops deployed at the beginning of the humanitarian operation," Army Spokesperson Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya told media.

At the beginning of the humanitarian operation, nearly 50,000 troops were stationed in the peninsula and the number has been reduced to 15,000 over the last five years, the Army spokesman added.

He said the number of military personnel is reduced after careful consideration of ground situation and other factors.

"The areas we look at when we do an estimation of the security situation are the threats to national security, ground situation, security forces' capabilities to meeting these needs," Brigadier Wanigasuriya said adding that the number of troops deployed in the area will change according to the given ground situation.

Army spokesman said that the military does not arbitrarily change the number of troops stationed anywhere in the country.