The US Government called on Shri Lanka to investigate “the allegations of war crimes by Sri Lankan troops and Tamil rebels during the bloody final months of the country's 25-year-long civil war,” the Washington Post reports.

Stephen Rapp, the U.S. ambassador at large for war crimes issues, presented the account “that suggests both sides may have violated international law and committed crimes against humanity.”

“We are certainly calling on the government, as part of the reconciliation process, to develop an accountability process that respects the interests of all,” Rapp said in an interview.

However, the Sri Lankan government released rebuttal to the US report, “contending that the period it covered was &‘when the Security Forces of Sri Lanka were engaged in a humanitarian mission’ in the battle area,” the breakingnews.ie website reports.