Sri Lankan troops have cleared an area of 62,760,434 square metres in northern and eastern provinces this year, army spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.

The government has said it would make every effort to resettle one lakh remaining Tamil IDPs, who are staying in camps in north and other areas, back to their homes by end of next month.

The forces have recovered 8,313 anti personnel mines and 2,536 other explosives hidden in these areas which could have posed a hazard to the civilians, Nanayakkara said.

The army had cleared an area of 450,402,744 square metres in seven districts of northern and eastern provinces since 2002, the state run ‘Daily News’ today quoted the military spokesman as saying.