Sri Lankan police arrest seven terror suspects after 'being warned of Easter attack by Muslim extremists TEN DAYS before suicide bombers killed 207 people'
- Eight explosions killed approximately 207 people in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday
- Sri Lanka's police chief issued an intelligence alert 10 days ago, reports indicate
- It was said he warned that suicide bombers planned to hit 'prominent churches'
- Seven suspects have been arrested following the blasts in Sri Lanka today
- By Henry Martin For Mailonline and Afp
Published: 05:23 EDT, 21 April 2019 | Updated: 10:42 EDT, 21 April 2019
Sri Lanka's police chief warned of potential suicide bombing plots on 'prominent churches' from Islamic extremists ten days before today's attacks which killed 207 people, according to reports.
Seven suspects have been arrested so far after the blasts hit high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka on Sunday, injuring as many as 500 people.
The cause was not immediately clear, and there have been no claims of responsibility so far, though the country remains deeply scarred by its 1983-2009 civil war, when Tamil rebels fought to create an independent homeland.
Recently a religious divide has taken hold in the country, which is 70 percent are Buddhist, 13 per cent Hindu, 10 per cent Muslim, and seven per cent Christian, according to the country's 2012 census.
Documents seen by news agency AFP reveal that Sri Lanka's police chief Pujuth Jayasundara issued an intelligence alert to top officers 10 days ago, warning that suicide bombers planned to hit 'prominent churches'.
'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.
The NTJ is a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka that was linked last year to the vandalisation of Buddhist statues.
The first blast was reported at St Anthony's Shrine, a well-known Catholic church in the capital Colombo.
A second deadly explosion was then confirmed at St Sebastian's, a church in the town of Negombo, north of the capital.
Soon after, police confirmed that a third church in the town of Batticaloa had been hit, along with three high-end hotels in the capital.
Hospital sources said British, Dutch and American citizens were among the dead, with Britons and Japanese among those injured in the attacks.
The Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka are the latest flashpoint amid ongoing religious tensions in the island nation.
Sri Lanka has long been divided between the majority Sinhalese, who are overwhelmingly Buddhist, and minority Tamils who are Hindu, Muslim and Christian.
A Christian group said there had been 86 cases of discrimination, threats and violence against followers of Jesus last year, with another 26 so far this year.
The U.S. State Department warned in a 2018 report that Christians had been pressured to close places of worship after they were deemed 'unauthorised gatherings'.
The report also said Buddhist monks regularly tried to close down Christian and Muslim places of worship.
There have also been attacks on Muslims, with the government forced to declare a state of emergency amid a spate of anti-Muslim rioting.
Hard-line Buddhist groups accuse Muslims of forcing people to convert and destroying sacred Buddhist sites.
One radical Muslim group, the NTJ, has been linked to the vandalisation of Buddhist statues and has also reportedly plotted to attack Christian churches.
Sri Lanka bomber queued at hotel buffet then unleashed devastation
Carrying a plate, the man, who had registered at the hotel the night before as Mohamed Azzam Mohamed, was just about to be served when he set off his devastating strike.
AFP|
Apr 21, 2019, 06.15 PM IST
The suicide bomber waited patiently in a queue for the Easter Sunday breakfast buffet at Sri Lanka's Cinnamon Grand hotel before setting off explosives strapped to his back.
Carrying a plate, the man, who had registered at the hotel the night before as Mohamed Azzam Mohamed, was just about to be served when he set off his devastating strike in the packed restaurant, a manager at the Sri Lankan hotel said.
"There was utter chaos," said the manager, who spoke to AFP on condition...
Sachintha bandaranayaka
@Sachinthaband12
26s26 seconds ago
Katuwapitiya church attack believe to be a Suicide attack. CCTV camera captured suspect carder image.#LKA #SriLanka #EasterSundayAttacksLK
Sotiri Dimpinoudis ❁ Retweeted
Kashmir Intel
@KashmirIntel
2h2 hours ago
BREAKING: A minivan suspected to have been used to transport explosive material used in Colombo explosions taken into Police custody along with the driver. #SriLanka
Sotiri Dimpinoudis ❁
@sotiridi
15m15 minutes ago
#Breaking: Police authorities in #SriLanka together with military intelligence says, that they have stopped a potential new explosion in #Colombo. When police arrested one man in a van stuffed full off explosive devices.
Sotiri Dimpinoudis ❁
@sotiridi
30m30 minutes ago
#Update: British foreign minister of in the #UK says that in #SriLanka, that at least five British citizens were killed in the terror attacks in #Colombo.
Sotiri Dimpinoudis ❁
@sotiridi
1h1 hour ago
#Update: Picture of the St.Paul Church in #Munich in #Germany, attacked with fireworks inside during Easter night service, were 24 people got injured in a stampede. And witnesses on the scene said that the attacker yelled "Allahu Akbar" after the fireworks.
Ingrid Carlqvist
@ingridcarlqvist
Three of the suicide bombers in Sri Lanka had Muslim names. Anyone surprised? The group they suspect is called Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath. Police suspect they are ISIS fighters from Syria.
8:47 AM - 21 Apr 2019
https://twitter.com/ingridcarlqvist/...91131599790080
Man At Arms
@ManAtArms4Ever
1m1 minute ago
Where is the outrage #AOC, #IlhanOmar, #RashidaTlaib, #BernieSanders, #CoryBooker, #DNC, #HollywoodLiberals over the murder of #200Christians in #SriLanka? Will Leftists wear crosses like they did the hijab in solidarity with #Christians?
MDWLive! SRI LANKA
@MDWLiveSriLanka
2m2 minutes ago
Minister @fernandoharin confirms that some #SriLanka intelligence officers knew today’s incidents and actions were delayed/ignored. #lka
Sri Lanka Terrorists Killed over 207 and 470 injured in 8 Easter Sunday Explosions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks