Sri Lankan authorities warned of attacks two weeks ago News of the world

The Sri Lankan authorities were warned two weeks before the Easter Sunday bombings and quoted the names of suspects, a cabinet spokesman said, while the number of dead among the bombings is high. is 290, and about 500 wounded.

"Fourteen days before these incidents occur, we have been informed of these incidents," Rajitha Senaratne said Monday during a press conference in Colombo, the capital.

"On April 9, the head of the national intelligence services wrote a letter in which were inscribed many names of members of the terrorist organization."

Senaratne said the intelligence memo cautioning about the attacks had designated the radical Islamist group National Thowheeth Jama'ath as the perpetrators. National Thowheeth Jama'ath is a newly formed radical Islamist group in Sri Lanka, which is a strong supporter of the global jihadist movement. They are known for their anti-Buddhist virulence and are linked to the vandalism of Buddhist statues. Four of their members were arrested in January.

However, he stressed that the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and his cabinet had not been informed of the warnings regarding possible attacks, as they were not invited to meetings of the national security council. presided over by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.

"The Prime Minister has not been informed by these letters and revelations," Senaratne said. "We do not try to escape responsibility, but these are the facts. We were surprised to see these reports. "

The words of the Prime Minister and his ministers raised concerns about the politicization of the security failures that led to the attacks.

The gap between Wickremesinghe and Sirisena is well known after the president's unsuccessful attempt to sack the prime minister in October, and there is reason to fear that the country will again be plunged into political turmoil.

Senaratne told the press conference that the investigators believed that those who perpetrated the attacks were all Sri Lankan nationals, but did not rule out the badailants receiving international badistance.

On Monday, the police had 24 suspects in detention. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said they had seized a van and a driver who allegedly transported the suspects to Colombo. They also raided a secure accommodation center used by the attackers.

Three officers were among the dead when the eighth bomb exploded during a raid on a real estate complex in Colombo, in search of attackers.

However, the country was still on alert Monday afternoon. Chaos reigned outside St. Anthony's Church, which was destroyed in a suicide bomb blast on Sunday after a suspicious package was found in a van parked nearby. Sunday.

In the densely populated neighborhood where their children were, people scrambled out of the house, while the police ran in the other direction, wielding rifles. Shortly after, the police arrested a young man but their attempts to put him in a police car were blocked by a crowd that formed quickly. They began to beat the man, forcing the police to take shelter with him inside the nearest building while the angry crowd was trying to sneak into the interior of the building. building for several minutes.

"Do you see how we live?" Said a man, while people pbaded him, crying and crying. "How can we manage like this?"

A few minutes later, a loud explosion was heard and thick smoke rose in the air, triggering new waves of fear. Police said the noise came from their mine clearance units that defused the suspect package.

Police also discovered 87 bomb detonators at Colombo's main bus station on Monday afternoon.

While the national curfew imposed by the government had initially been lifted at 6 am, the authorities announced that it would be reinstated from Monday at 8pm to Tuesday at 4am.

In Negombo, north of the capital, a yellow band of crime scenes covered the perimeter of St. Sebastian's Church, one day after the congregation's explosion.

The courtyard was littered with flowers, broken windows and red and pink debris from the building. The Catholic sisters and priests took a look in turn through the destroyed windows of the church and the carnage inside.

"We can not explain that," said Fr. Danushka Fernando. "It was supposed to be the mbad of children, so a lot of women and children were present."

In the church, the investigators were wearing hoods while they were watching. Pews were scattered on the ground around the point near the back of the church, where a terrorist had exploded his backpack.

Parts of the roof and walls had been blown away, revealing the bricks and the blue tarpaulin underneath. Red candles were still clustered at the ends of some benches.

Another priest in the court said that he was struggling to contain himself. "If this is done by whom I suspect – is it their religion?" He said.

"It's madness. As leaders, we must ask people to love one another, "he added, refusing to give his name. "But as a person, I am angry."

While the Sri Lankans were trying to cope with this atrocity, one wondered if the security services could have prevented the attack.

Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said the culprits were religious extremists, but declined to elaborate, and no group has yet claimed responsibility directly.

Hundreds of Sri Lankans and at least 30 foreigners – British, Turkish, Japanese, Dutch, Chinese, Australian and Indian – have been killed in these coordinated attacks, the worst in Sri Lanka since the end of the civil war since.

Questions remain as to what could have been done to prevent the explosions. Wickremesinghe had previously acknowledged that Sri Lankan intelligence services were "aware of the news" of a possible attack on churches until 10 days ago, but that its ministers were not "aware" of a possible attack on churches until 10 days ago, but that its ministers were not aware had not been informed, and stated that the government "should investigate why adequate precautions were not taken. taken".

On Monday morning, the president and prime minister convened a meeting of the national security council with senior army officials to investigate the attacks.

Wickremesinghe's claims were echoed by Telecommunications Minister Harin Fernando, who tweeted Sunday night footage of an intelligence note dated April 11 that outlined details of a possible attack.

Speaking to the Today program, Fernando said the government also had not ruled out a coup attempt. "There are so many ways to look at this, but our number one priority is to find out what really drove these eight, 10 or 12 men to lead this attack," he said. "But we do not rule out a coup d'etat either."

On Monday morning, Wickremesinghe visited one of the destroyed churches in the blast. "Orders were given to find those responsible," he told reporters at the scene. "We will give them all the powers they want. We can not allow these crimes to happen. We will also examine the gaps. Over the next few days, the important thing is to keep the peace. "

The eight explosions, which were confirmed by the police as suicide bombings, seemed to have as their goal to kill as many people as possible, targeting worshipers at Easter Sunday services and diners taking their breakfast in the streets. Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand hotels in Colombo.

One witness said that a suicide bomber blew up his machine while standing in front of a waiting line in front of a buffet at the Shangri-La restaurant. A British woman and her 11 year old son would be largely among those who died while having breakfast at the hotel.

Fears of further attacks continued until Sunday. An unexploded improvised device was discovered by police late at night on the roadside, near Colombo airport, described by an army spokesman. look like a "six-foot coarse hand bomb".

The details of those who died in the attacks began to run slowly on Monday morning. One of the first Sri Lankans to be declared dead is the famous chef Shantha Mayadunne, who was having lunch at Shangri-La with his family at the time of the blast.

The police refused to say which site had been hit hardest or if the death toll had been divided. However, at least 50 people are believed to have been killed at the San Sebastian Church in the seaside town of Negombo, and at least 160 people were reportedly injured in the explosion at the San Antonio Sanctuary in Colombo.

The curfew, which had been imposed across the country from 6 pm on Sunday, was lifted Monday morning, but commandos still stood guard in hotels and churches. A government block on social media sites and apps such as Facebook and WhatsApp is still in place, which, according to the government, was aimed at preventing the spread of misinformation that could fuel tensions.

When the curfew was lifted on Monday morning in Negombo, where the San Sebastian church was overflowing with people attending the Easter service, members of the congregation gathered to witness the devastation.

Among them was Dilip Fernando, who had narrowly avoided being inside the church during Mbad, because there were too many people, but he thought that his family members had seen the suicide bomber, a "Young and innocent man" enter St Sebastian with a backpack.

"At the end of Mbad, they saw a young man enter the church with a heavy bag," Fernando told Agence France Presse. "He touched my granddaughter's head as he pbaded. That was the bomber. He was neither excited nor frightened. He was so calm.