The Sri Lankan Police were warned of the Easter terror attack, 10 days before Islamist extremist struck yesterday in an attack that killed 207 people and left many others injured.
The prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe confirmed late Easter Sunday, that the Sri Lankan’s police and intelligence services were warned of possible suicide bombings at “prominent churches” 10 days before the Easter terror attacks. According to him, the warning to Sri Lanka’s police was not acted upon and the information had not been passed to him.
“We must also look into why adequate precautions were not taken,” Wickremesinghe said the previous evening.
The intelligence information had been sent to the country’s top officers by Police Chief Pujuth Jayasundara, according to documents cited by AFP.
“A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama’ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo,” the alert said.
Some intelligence officers were aware of this incidence. Therefore there was a delay in action. What my father heard was also from an intelligence officer. Serious action need to be taken as to why this warning was ignored. I was in Badulla last night pic.twitter.com/ssJyItJF1x
— Harin Fernando (@fernandoharin) April 21, 2019
The Country’s Minister of Telecommunications, Foreign Employment & Sports, Harin Fernando also tweeted;
Some intelligence officers were aware of this incidence. Therefore there was a delay in action. What my father heard was also from an intelligence officer. Serious action need to be taken as to why this warning was ignored. I was in Badulla last night
While no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, Sri Lanka’s defense minister, Ruwan Wijewardene, identified the culprits as religious extremists. He said that while they have been identified, their names will not be released to the public for security reasons.
