Sri Lanka PM says prior intelligence inputs warned of attacks including on Indian High Commission
Colombo: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe admitted Tuesday that there had been prior intelligence warnings about the attacks in the country, including on the Indian High Commission in Colombo.
Talking to reporters, he also said that there will be changes in the top positions of the security establishment following the deadly Easter Sunday suicide bombings which killed 321 people and injured over 500.
Wickremesinghe said there had been prior intelligence warnings on the attacks including on the Indian High Commission.
Earlier addressing Parliament, he said investigators have made good progress identifying the suspects and that some of the bombers travelled abroad and then returned home.
He said "it was possible" the bombings were a "retaliation" for the New Zealand mosque attacks that left 50 Muslims dead and were blamed on a white supremacist from Australia. Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene made the similar remark earlier in the day.
Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka has been offered assistance by many countries and international organisations, including the UN, the Interpol, to combat terrorism.
"We should seize this opportunity use their assistance to eradicate terrorism", he said.
The Prime Minister said that Sri Lanka has entered the map of global terrorism with the ruthless attacks on Sunday. "Therefore, we have to consider those who launched the attack as global terrorists and it is time to bring about structural changes to face this terror situation".
He said that Sri Lanka was facing global terrorism today and it has nothing to do with ethnic or religious extremists.
The Prime Minister stressed that a majority of Muslims were against terrorism and extremism.
Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando said Tuesday that the FBI has already commenced investigations into the incident while the Interpol is expected to arrive in the country.
He also pointed out that the recent attacks targeted the country's economy and also the tourism industry. Accordingly, the government has taken steps to implement a special plan in order to protect the tourism industry, he said.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the devastating Easter blasts in Sri Lanka and identified the seven suicide bombers who were involved in the attacks.
Forty suspects, including the driver of a van allegedly used by the suicide bombers, have been arrested so far in connection with the attacks that shocked Sri Lankans who observed a day of national mourning on Tuesday.
National flags were lowered to half mast and people bowed their heads as a three-minute silence began at 8:30 am local time, the time the first of the attacks occurred on Sunday.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
