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Sri Lanka Is Rattled by New Threats as Officials Argue Over Responsibility | Sri Lanka Is Rattled by New Threats as Officials Argue Over Responsibility |
(32 minutes later) | |
Police officials in Sri Lanka warned on Thursday of possible new attacks on religious services, as Muslim leaders urged the cancellation of Friday Prayer and the country’s highest Roman Catholic prelate suspended worship services through the weekend. | |
Officials said privately that the authorities were trying to find at least one person believed to be armed with explosives. The police said the number of people arrested in the investigation had passed 70. | |
A letter distributed to security officials said there was “credible information” that National Thowheeth Jama’ath, the radical Islamist group thought to have carried out the bombings on Sunday, was planning another attack “specifically targeting Sufi shrines.” | |
Several officials confirmed the authenticity of the letter, and the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, said in more general terms that the security services were hunting for people believed to be planning more terrorist attacks. | |
Sufism is a mystical strain of Islam that sometimes comes under attack from Islamic fundamentalists. | |
The worries about new dangers came as officials debated who was to blame for a series of missed chances to prevent the bombings that killed more than 350 people at churches and hotels in three cities. | |
President Maithripala Sirisena, who has tried to deflect criticism that he bears some responsibility for the lack of action on intelligence warning of attacks on churches, has called for the resignation of two security officials, Pujith Jayasundara, the inspector general of the police, and Hemasiri Fernando, the defense secretary. | |
But there was no public confirmation by Thursday that they had done so. | |
The Sri Lankan government is bitterly divided, which may have contributed to the security failures. Mr. Wickremesinghe, the prime minister and a rival of the president, complained that he had not been allowed to attend security meetings before the attacks and was unaware of the threats. | |
The fears of fresh attacks swirled a day after the United States ambassador warned of possible continuing terrorist plots. Israel’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau issued on Thursday a Level 2 travel advisory, its second-highest advisory, warning of a “high concrete threat” in Sri Lanka. | |
Roadblocks went up around the country on Thursday, and the central bank and office buildings in Colombo, the capital, were temporarily put on lockdown. The police also briefly closed the road to the country’s main international airport, outside Negombo, while they searched a suspicious car. | |
A small blast was reported in a town about 20 miles east of Colombo, but no one was injured. The police arrested three people with more than 20 grenade-like explosives and six swords, local news outlets reported. | |
And Sri Lanka’s civil aviation authority said that it was banning the use of drones because of continuing security concerns. | And Sri Lanka’s civil aviation authority said that it was banning the use of drones because of continuing security concerns. |
With warnings of more attacks circulating through Colombo, many people stayed home. The Liberty Plaza mall, one of the city’s biggest, was deserted. Many shops were closed. The few that were open stood empty. | With warnings of more attacks circulating through Colombo, many people stayed home. The Liberty Plaza mall, one of the city’s biggest, was deserted. Many shops were closed. The few that were open stood empty. |
Many people said they felt uneasy. | Many people said they felt uneasy. |
“I don’t know what to eat, I don’t know when to eat, my whole body is trembling,” said Indika Manamperi, the owner of two restaurants in the food court. | “I don’t know what to eat, I don’t know when to eat, my whole body is trembling,” said Indika Manamperi, the owner of two restaurants in the food court. |
Mr. Manamperi said he used to be a major in the Sri Lankan Army and felt completely demoralized by the attacks. | |
“There was enough of a blood bath for the past 30 years and again our children have to face the same tune?” he said, referring to the country’s long civil war, which ended a decade ago. | “There was enough of a blood bath for the past 30 years and again our children have to face the same tune?” he said, referring to the country’s long civil war, which ended a decade ago. |
What really distressed him, he said, was the political dysfunction. | |
“I’m stressed because these Sri Lankan politicians don’t want to take responsibility,” he said. “It’s a pathetic state of affairs.” | “I’m stressed because these Sri Lankan politicians don’t want to take responsibility,” he said. “It’s a pathetic state of affairs.” |
The attacks Sunday came after a series of missteps by the authorities. | The attacks Sunday came after a series of missteps by the authorities. |
Just a few months ago, the authorities arrested and then released one of the suicide bombers. On Thursday, a senior government official told CNN that the person arrested was Ilham Ibrahim, the son of a wealthy spice merchant. | |
Officials say that Mr. Ibrahim’s brother, Inshaf, also blew himself up in the attack, and their father, Mohammad Yusuf Ibrahim, is in custody and is being questioned. | |
[Read more about the mix of privilege and radicalism within the Ibrahim family.] | |
Indian intelligence officials began warning their Sri Lankan counterparts of a pending attack at least as early as April 4, officials have said. | |
On April 11, a police official sent a memo to Sri Lankan security agencies, based on Indian intelligence reports, outlining in great detail the threat of suicide bombings at churches, with names, addresses and phone numbers of suspects. But many officials did not see the memo. | |
And just hours before the bombs detonated in packed churches and hotel restaurants, India warned that the attacks were imminent. | |
Government officials, survivors and Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, are among those who have criticized the government for failing to act. | |
The warning of possible attacks against Sufi mosques could tap into decade-old tensions. Threats to local Sufis in the Kattankudy area on the country’s east coast go back as far as 2006, when local Sufis appealed for help after asserting that an influx of extremist Wahhabi Muslims was making life hard for them. | The warning of possible attacks against Sufi mosques could tap into decade-old tensions. Threats to local Sufis in the Kattankudy area on the country’s east coast go back as far as 2006, when local Sufis appealed for help after asserting that an influx of extremist Wahhabi Muslims was making life hard for them. |