Colombo  - The Sri Lankan army will expedite clearing mines in former battle zones in the northern part of the country to make it possible to resettle thousands of displaced people from the region, army commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya said Thursday.

The commander told journalists in Colombo that he sent an engineering unit of 400 soldiers to clear mines in the Wanni region, 280 kilometres north of the capital, and more equipment was being released to support the mine-clearing programme.

Government forces and Tamil rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) extensively used mines in the final phase of their war which extended from the north-western coast to the north-eastern coast.

"We will be using mechanized mine clearing systems, otherwise at the rate mines are being cleared it may take about 35 years to complete clearing mines," Jayasuriya said.

He said there were a lot of mines, though exact numbers were not available.

International organizations including UN teams are helping to clear the mines, but the process has been slow.

Currently some 285,000 displaced persons from the war-affected areas are being housed in camps in Vavuniya amidst growing criticism that the conditions in the camps are appalling and they were not allowed to leave the camps even to live with their relations outside the war-affected areas.

The government has claimed the mines and the lack of infrastructure in the former war zone prevented the release of the war refugees from the camps.

Tamil rebels were defeated with the killing of their leadership on May 18.

The government says it wants to resettle nearly 80 per cent of the displaced before the end of the year, but non-government organizations helping the displaced persons say it would be difficult to meet the target.

Monsoon rains are expected to set in by next month, making it difficult to reconstruct houses, while the camps set up for the displaced are vulnerable to flooding.

Last weekend rains affected more than 16,000 displaced persons in the camps as temporary shelters were swamped. (dpa)