{"id":145237,"date":"2024-10-24T15:45:28","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T22:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=145237"},"modified":"2024-10-24T15:45:28","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T22:45:28","slug":"sri-lanka-deploys-troops-to-jewish-community-centre-after-us-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2024\/10\/24\/sri-lanka-deploys-troops-to-jewish-community-centre-after-us-warning\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka deploys troops to Jewish community centre after US warning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy Digital Journal\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"Sri<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka deployed troops around a Jewish community centre in a popular surfing town after the US embassy warned a possible attack – Copyright AFP Arun SANKAR<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka deployed troops and increased police patrols around a Jewish community centre in a popular surfing town on Wednesday after the US embassy warned its citizens of a possible attack there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stepped-up security and warning came after social media posts called for a boycott of Israeli-owned businesses in eastern Arugam Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The information was that a place called \u2018Chabad House\u2019 run by Israelis could be a target and we have taken measures to strengthen security,\u201d said police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said there had recently been tensions between the Jewish tourists visiting Chabad House and the bay\u2019s Muslim-majority population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The army and the navy along with police commandos were deployed in the area to step up patrols and man roadblocks, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protests by local Muslim groups against Israel\u2019s fighting of Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have drawn support from the wider community in the predominantly Buddhist South Asian nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israelis accounted for less than 1.5 percent of the 1.5 million tourists who visited the island in the first nine months of this year \u2014 or around 20,000 people altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Arugam Bay, a hotspot for surfing around 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Colombo by road, is a popular destination for Israeli tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a rare notice of an imminent threat, the US embassy said Wednesday that it had received credible information warning of an attack targeting popular tourist locations\u201d in eastern Arugam Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Britain and Canada shared the US warning on their own websites, while the Russian embassy advised its nationals to avoid crowded places while visiting the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel\u2019s National Security Council (NSC) meanwhile raised the travel alert level for Sri Lanka due to credible terrorism threats at the tourist and coastal areas\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel urged its citizens in Arugam Bay and other beaches to leave the country or at least to the capital Colombo, where there is a high presence of local security forces\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 New hotline \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been no attacks in Sri Lanka since the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 279 people, including 45 foreign nationals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coordinated attack against three luxury hotels and three churches was blamed on a local jihadist group that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tourism numbers fell sharply afterward, and took another hit during a 2022 economic meltdown that precipitated widespread civil unrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But foreign visitor numbers have picked up after an International Monetary Fund bailout last year helped stabilise the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the US embassy warning, police said they were unveiling a new security plan to protect tourists island-wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In view of the war situation in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, the police, together with intelligence agencies, are working on a plan to protect tourists and resorts,\u201d said a statement issued by the Sri Lanka Police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It did not give details, but said a hotline had been established for tourists to alert authorities of any safety concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more: https:\/\/www.digitaljournal.com\/world\/sri-lanka-deploys-troops-to-jewish-community-centre-after-us-warning\/article#ixzz8pcM2lk8f<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy Digital Journal\u00a0 Sri Lanka deployed troops around a Jewish community centre in a popular surfing town after the US embassy warned a possible attack – Copyright AFP Arun SANKAR Sri Lanka deployed troops and increased police patrols around a Jewish community centre in a popular surfing town on Wednesday after the US embassy warned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","category-terrorism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145237\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}