UK, Australia warns against travelling to Sri Lanka, sees further attacks
Colombo: The UK and Australia have advised their citizens not to travel to Sri Lanka unless their journey is essential as terrorists were "likely" to carry out further attacks in the country, following the deadly Easter Sunday bombings that killed 253 people and injured over 500.
According to advisories, future attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners.In the immediate aftermath of the bombings, the The UK Foreign Office (FCO) updated its guidance, urging British citizens in the country to avoid large gatherings.But on Thursday it went further, warning about the potential for more attacks.
"The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka, due to the current evolving security situation following attacks on April 21 2019," it said.
"Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Sri Lanka. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners."
Foreign Office officials told those at the briefing that the change to travel advice was not due to fresh intelligence but instead a necessary precaution.
The situation still remains volatile in Sri Lanka after nine suicide bombers, believed to be members of a local extremist group carried out the blasts that killed 253 people and wounded more than 500 others.
The death toll from the terrorist attack on Easter Sunday was revised downwards on Thursday from 359 to 253 people killed.
Following similar warning from the UK, the US, Australia on Thursday warned more terror attacks were "likely" in Sri Lanka, cautioning citizens against visiting the island nation.
"Terrorists are likely to carry out further attacks in Sri Lanka," the foreign ministry warned in its latest travel advice.
"Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners. Security has been stepped up across the island and a State of Emergency and night-time curfew remain in place," it said.
The US State Department on Thursday again issued an advisory and warned that terrorist groups "continue plotting" possible attacks, with targets including tourist locations, places of worship and airports.
The blasts - the deadliest attacks in the country's history - are likely to devastate the country's tourism industry which had been thriving in the decade of peace since the end of the country's civil war in 2009.
Tourism is a major source of income for Sri Lanka and the industry has only in recent years begun to recover after the 26-year civil war.
In 2009, there were 448,000 foreign visitors to the country, but since 2016, the figure has leapt to more than 2 million a year.
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Airlines got 999 hoax bomb threats till Nov 14 this year; 256 FIRs filed: Govt
New Delhi, Nov 28: Airlines received 999 hoax bomb threats this year till November 14 and as many as 256 FIRs have been filed while guidelines have been issued by aviation security regulator BCAS for objective assessment of threats, the government said on Thursday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said a total of 1,148 hoax bomb threat messages/calls have been received since August 2022 till November 14, 2024 threatening the operations of international and domestic air travel.
While 999 threats were received by airlines during the period from January to November 14, 2024, the count stood at 122 last year and at 27 for the August-December 2022 period.
"256 FIRs have been filed since January 2024 till 14 November 2024, out of which 163 FIRs have been filed during 14 October- 14 November 2024. 12 arrests have been made in view of hoax bomb threat since January 2024 till 14 November 2024," the minister said.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued guidelines for objective assessment of threats. The indicative factor has been useful in reducing time taken by the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) during the decision-making process.
"Also, to reduce the overall time taken for convening BTAC to less than 5 minutes, virtual assembly of BTAC through pre-generated video link has been set up. Further, advisories for compulsory 10 per cent of secondary ladder point check-in for all flights, strict monitoring of non-scheduled flight operations, enhanced security measures and surveillance at cargo terminals were issued," Mohol said.
Further, the minister said the government is considering amending the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 to put hoax threat messenger in the no-fly list.
"It is also being considered to amend Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation for covering Aircraft in flight as well as on ground, airport etc," he added.
