Probe into intel failures
Sri Lankan police reportedly warned of suicide bombings
POLICE in Sri Lanka said the investigation into the Easter Sunday bombings will examine reports the intelligence community failed to detect or warn of possible suicide attacks before the violence.
The nine bombings of churches, luxury hotels and other sites was Sri Lanka’s deadliest violence since a devastating civil war in the South Asian island nation ended a decade ago.
Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said Monday the death toll, which was 207 late Sunday, had risen overnight but the figure wasn’t immediately released.
Two government ministers have alluded to intelligence failures. Telecommunications Minister Harin Fernando tweeted, “Some intelligence officers were aware of this incidence. Therefore there was a delay in action. Serious action needs to be taken as to why this warning was ignored.”
He said his father had heard of the possibility of an attack as well and had warned him not to enter popular churches.
And Mano Ganeshan, the minister for national integration, said the security officers within his ministry had been warned by their division about the possibility two suicide bombers would target politicians.
It has emerged Sri Lanka’s police chief reportedly warned of suicide bombers planning to hit “prominent churches” 10 days ago.
According to The Sun, documents show police were told of possible attacks involving the religious hubs.
Just over a week ago police chief Pujuth Jayasundara reportedly told officers: “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 NTJ is a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka that was linked last year to the destruction of Buddhist statues.
Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said the Criminal Investigation Department investigating the blasts will look into the reports.
Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardena previously described the blasts as a terrorist attack by religious extremists, and police said 13 suspects were arrested, though there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Mr Wijewardena said most of the bombings were believed to have been suicide attacks. The explosions — mostly in or around Colombo, the capital — collapsed ceilings and blew out windows, killing worshippers and hotel guests in one scene after another of smoke, soot, blood, broken glass, screams and wailing alarms.
“People were being dragged out,” said Bhanuka Harischandra, of Colombo, a 24-year-old founder of a tech marketing company who was going to the Shangri-La Hotel for a meeting when it was bombed. “People didn’t know what was going on. It was panic mode.” He added: “There was blood everywhere.”
Most of those killed were Sri Lankans. But the three bombed hotels and one of the churches, St Anthony’s Shrine, are frequented by foreign tourists, and Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said the bodies of at least 27 foreigners from a variety of countries were recovered.
The US said “several” Americans were among the dead, while Britain, India, China, Japan and Portugal said they, too, lost citizens.
Most social media remained blocked Monday after officials said they needed to curtail the spread of false information and ease tension in the country of about 21 million people.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe vowed to “vest all necessary powers with the defence forces” to take action against those responsible.
The Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, called on Sri Lanka’s government to “mercilessly” punish those responsible “because only animals can behave like that”.