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COLOMBO, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena appointed senior military officer Shavendra Silva as the country's new army commander on Monday after promoting him to the rank of Lieutenant General, the army said in a statement.
Silva succeeds Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake to become the 23rd Commander of the Sri Lanka Army.
Silva was enlisted in the army in 1984, and later served as Ambassador and the Deputy Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations from 2010 to 2015.
Silva will assume his duties on Tuesday.
