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.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
