By Aaron Miller-
U.S intelligence have warned of ongoing terrorist plots in Shrilanka , after one of the worst attacks the country has witnessed. The revelation comes after it was revealed that one of the suicide bombers studied in the Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka studied in the UK and Australia. Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene did not name the terrorist, or which university or college he attended.Alaina.
Alaina Teplitz, America’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, said America believes there are ‘ongoing terrorist plots’ in the country while warning of attacks on ‘large gatherings [and] public spaces’Mr Wijewardene also confirmed a rise in the death toll from the attacks rose to 359 overnight, 39 of whom he said were foreign nationals. Among the dead foreigners, 17 have been identified and their remains handed over to their families. He also confirmed that the leader of the terror cell was among the dead, having blown himself up at the Shangri-La hotel.
However, he refused to name the man.The ringleader has previously been named by the country’s Prime Minister as Moulvi Zahran Hashim, and extremist preacher known to security services for speeches he gave online calling for all non-Muslims to be ‘eradicated’. He added that although the attack may have been in the making for some time, it is the belief of the security services that the Christchurch mosque attacks steered them towards attacking churches on Easter Sunday.
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Teplitz, US ambassador to Sri Lanka, said America believes there are ongoing terrorist plots within the country. He added that the attackers were all middle or upper class, well educated, from financially stable families, and many of them had higher education.He also revealed that there were nine suicide bombers – eight men pictured swearing allegiance to ISIS and one of their wives who blew herself up when police raided her home – and said eight have been identified. They used two safehouses to mastermind the atrocity, he added.
Mr Wijewardene said: ‘We believe one of the suicide bombers studied in the UK and then later on did his postgraduate in Australia, before coming back to settle in Sri Lanka.’The group were united in their belief that Islam should be the only religion in Sri Lanka, and that was what motivated their attack on Sunday.
Mr Wickremesinghe has previously warned that suspects armed with explosives were still at large, while Mr Wijewardene told people to ‘remain vigilant’.
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‘The investigation is still being conducted by our intelligence agencies, we have made a significant amount of arrests,’ he said.
‘We have gathered a considerable amount of information about who was involved in these atrocities and about extremist elements within this country.
‘We will make further arrests over the coming days [and] we can firmly say that within the next couple of days we will have the situation under control.’ Mr Wijewardene said that, so far, 60 people have been arrested, all of whom are Sri Lankan nationals, 39 of whom are still in custody being questioned. He added that all suspects have some link to the attackers – who he refused to formally identify.
WITHELD INFORMATION
Lakshman Kiriella, leader of Sri Lanka’s parliament, accused security officials of deliberately withholding information about the attacks. He said information on possible suicide attacks on churches, hotels and politicians were received from Indian intelligence on April 4 ahead of a Security Council meeting chaired Sirisena on April 7, but the information was not shared more widely.
He told ministers: ‘Some top intelligence officials hid the intelligence information purposefully.
‘Information was there, but the top brass security officials did not take appropriate actions. Somebody is controlling these top intelligence officials.
‘The Security Council is doing politics. We need to investigate into this.’ Shrilankan officials have been criticised for ignoring warnings of a threat against churches in the country two hours before the first bomb blast. Teplitz condemned failures in the system for Sri Lanka prior to Easter bombings.
The President has also called for the resignation of the country’s defence secretary and chief of police over the blunders. Alaina Teplitz, US ambassador to Sri Lanka, said America believes there are ongoing terrorist plots within the country. Alaina Teplitz, US ambassador to Sri Lanka, said America believes there are ongoing terrorist plots within the country
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