Sri Lanka on high alert after intelligence info on potential terror attack targeting foreigners

Colombo, Oct 24 (IANS) Sri Lankan Foreign and Public Security Minister Vijitha Herath revealed on Thursday that three suspects have been arrested in connection with the security threats to Israeli nationals in the Arugam Bay area of the island nation’s Eastern Province.

The action follows after several countries have issued travel alerts over the past 24 hours considering intelligence information received about a possible terror attack targeting foreigners, especially Israelis, across popular tourist locations in coastal Sri Lanka.

Some reports cited that the intelligence has been provided by India, like it was also reportedly done before the horrific 2019 Easter Sunday bombings which the Lankan security agencies had failed to act on in time.

The suspects, all Sri Lankan nationals, caught on Thursday are currently being questioned regarding the incident, Herath said at a special media briefing.

“Minister Herath said Sri Lankan authorities received intelligence information from foreign intelligence services about a potential attack on Israeli nationals earlier this month. He said that similar information had also been received by the authorities during the previous government,” Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror reported.

He asserted that the new government didn’t inform the public until the information was confirmed, but took security measures as soon as the information was received.

Herath also urged the public not to fall victim to misleading reports and assured that comprehensive security measures are in place to protect tourists.

On Wednesday, the United States issued a security alert, strongly advising US citizens of a potential attack on tourist locations in a coastal area of Sri Lanka.

“The Embassy received credible information warning of an attack targeting popular tourist locations in the Arugam Bay area. Due to the serious risk posed by this threat, the Embassy imposed a travel restriction on Embassy personnel for Arugam Bay effective immediately and until further notice. US citizens are strongly urged to avoid the Arugam Bay area until further notice,” stated the US Embassy in Colombo.

Similarly, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) called on Israeli citizens to immediately leave Arugam Bay and the south and west coastal areas of Sri Lanka.

The NSC said that it has raised the travel alert level for Sri Lanka due to “credible terrorism threats” at the tourist and coastal areas.

“The travel alert for Arugam Bay and the coastal areas in south and west Sri Lanka (including for the cities Ahangame, Galle, Hikkaduwa and Weligama) has been raised to level 4. We recommend leaving these areas immediately. For those currently in these areas, we recommend leaving the country or at least traveling to the capital city Colombo, where there is a heavier presence of local security forces,” the NSC alert detailed.

“For the rest of Sri Lanka, the travel warning has been raised to level 3, and we recommend that Israelis planning to travel to Sri Lanka delay any non-necessary trips to the country. If you do travel to Sri Lanka, avoid the areas for which level-4 travel alerts have been issued,” it added.

Australia too asked its citizens in Sri Lanka to “exercise a high degree of caution”.

“There is an ongoing risk of terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka. Terrorists may target areas popular with foreigners and tourists, including in regional and coastal towns. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East could lead to an increased threat of attacks against Israeli interests in other regions,” it mentioned.

Lankan Daily ‘The Daily Mirror’ revealed that a building in Arugam Bay, which had been converted into a ‘Chabad House’ by the Israeli nationals could have been a potential target.

“The elite STF officers had taken control of the security situation and continue to be stationed to date. It was learnt that STF had also kept bomb squads standby for any emergency,” it reported on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka remains on high alert even as it continues to investigate the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks carried out by the ISIS-backed suicide bombers that killed 270 people, including 45 foreign nationals and injured over 500.

In June, former Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe had appointed a Committee of Inquiry (CoI) to investigate the actions taken by Lankan intelligence services on the prior information received from their Indian counterparts regarding the Easter Sunday bombings.

Weeks before the coordinated bomb attacks on three churches and several hotels, the Indian intelligence agencies had reportedly alerted their Lankan counterparts about the Islamic State’s plan to carry out such suicide missions.

Last month, the country’s newly-elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had promised to thoroughly investigate the entire episode.

–IANS

as/