Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Catholic church suspended all public services over security fears on Thursday, as thousands of troops joined the hunt for suspects in deadly Easter bombings that killed nearly 360 people. Authorities made fresh arrests and stepped up security measures as the government faced pressure over its failure to act on Indian intelligence warnings before the suicide bombers blew themselves up in luxury hotels and churches packed with Easter Sunday worshippers.
A senior Catholic priest said that all public services were being suspended and all churches closed “on the advice of security forces”. Private burials will still be carried out.
Security forces using state of emergency powers arrested 16 more suspects overnight, bringing the total in custody to 74 since the attacks.
Brigadier Sumith Atapattu said the army had increased its deployment on the streets from 5,000 to 6,300, with the navy and air force also deploying an additional 2,000 personnel.
Authorities also banned drone flights. The government also suspended plans to lift the need for tourist visas for 39 countries —including European Union nations, Australia and the United States — for six months from May 1.
The government has been on the defensive over revelations that warnings about an attack went ignored. Sri Lanka’s police chief warned on April 11 of possible suicide bombings against churches by local group National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ), citing information from a foreign intelligence agency.
India warned Sri Lanka several times of possible attacks, based on information from suspects arrested in India over links to the IS group, a source close to the Indian investigation said.
But that information was not shared with top ministers in Sri Lanka, the Colombo government has conceded. “It was a major lapse in the sharing of information,” Deputy Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said on Wednesday.
President Maithripala Sirisena, who is also defence and law and order minister, has pledged to make “major changes in the leadership of the security forces.
On Thursday, Sirisena met political and religious figures to discuss the crisis, amid concerns about a potential backlash against Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority. Experts say the bombings had many of the hallmarks of the IS group, which has claimed responsibility for the attacks. The government has indicated it believes the local militants had outside help.
An FBI team is now in Sri Lanka and Britain, Australia and the United Arab Emirates have also offered intelligence help. A key suspect in the attacks still remains unaccounted for: NTJ leader Zahran Hashim.
He appears to be among eight people seen in a video released Tuesday by IS after it claimed the attacks. — AFP
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