**Sri Lanka is facing fresh calls for an international human rights inquiry after video emerged apparently showing extra-judicial killings by troops.**The footage was allegedly filmed in January during the final stages of the bloody conflict with the Tamil Tigers.
It shows a man dressed as a soldier shooting a prisoner in the head. Eight other bodies are seen on the ground.
It is impossible to verify the video’s authenticity. Sri Lanka’s government says the footage was fabricated.
Call for access
It is not clear where the film was shot or when.
The footage was provided to the BBC and other media organisations by a group called Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, which said it showed “the reality of the behaviour of the government forces during the war”.
Government troops finally declared victory over the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) in May after months of fierce fighting.
Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka said the video had been taken in January 2009.
Independent journalists were banned by the government from travelling to the conflict zone in northern Sri Lanka.
Human rights group Amnesty International responded to the release of the video by repeating its call for “an international, independent and credible investigation into what took place during the final days of the conflict”.
“Amnesty International has received consistent reports that violations of the laws of war, as well as international human rights law, were committed by both sides in the conflict,” a statement said.
“The government of Sri Lanka must allow immediate access to the conflict area so that evidence and documents, as well as testimony from survivors, can be gathered.”
Sri Lanka’s government categorically denied that troops had carried out atrocities and suggested the footage had been fabricated by pro-rebel groups.
“The Sri Lankan army never engaged with Tamil civilians. Our fight was with the LTTE terrorists,” High Commissioner to Britain Nihal Jayasinghe told the BBC.
He said “well-documented evidence” of human rights violations was needed before there could be any United Nations inquiry.