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Sri Lanka -- along with President Mahinda Rajapaksa -- marked the 65th anniversary of independence from British rule in the eastern city of Trincomalee on Monday (February 4).
The city was once a hotbed of Tamil separatist rebels whose war with the government ended in May 2009 when the military crushed the Liberation Tigers of tamil Eelam ending nearly two and a half decades of conflict.
More than a thousand members of the three armed forces and the police took part in a parade as part of the independence celebrations.
They were followed by hundreds of drummers and traditional dancers.
