{"id":87940,"date":"2019-04-29T17:13:52","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T00:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=87940"},"modified":"2019-04-29T17:13:52","modified_gmt":"2019-04-30T00:13:52","slug":"sri-lanka-extremists-plan-to-dress-in-military-uniform-for-new-attacks-say-security-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/04\/29\/sri-lanka-extremists-plan-to-dress-in-military-uniform-for-new-attacks-say-security-officials\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka: Extremists plan to dress in military uniform for new attacks, say security officials"},"content":{"rendered":"

REBECCA SPEARE-COLE<\/em><\/span><\/a> Courtesy Evening Standard<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"Sri<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lankan Christian devotees pray in Colombo, a week after a series of bomb blasts targeting churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka\u00a0( AFP\/Getty Images )<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lankan security officials have warned that Islamist militants<\/a>behind Easter<\/a> Sunday’s suicide bombings are planning further attacks and could be dressed in military uniform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security sources say the militants were targeting five locations for attacks today, as the archbishop of Colombo complained about insufficient security around churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter to the government and officials on Monday the head of the police ministerial security division said: “There could be another wave of attacks.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The relevant information further notes that persons dressed in military uniforms and using a van could be involved in the attacks.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Dead bodies of victims lie inside St. Sebastian’s Church after a suicide bomber blew himself up (AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There were no attacks on Sunday and security across Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka<\/a> has been ramped up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scores of suspected Islamists have been arrested since the April 21 attacks on hotels and churches that killed more than 250 people, including 40 foreign nationals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government has also banned women from wearing face veils under an emergency law that was put in place after the attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were concerns within the Muslim community that the ban could fuel tensions in the multi-ethnic nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But government officials said it would help security forces identify people as a hunt for any remaining attackers and their support network continues across the Indian Ocean island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Ranjith, said that security had not been sufficiently stepped up around churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith looks on during a candle light vigil in memory of the victims in Colombo. (AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We are not satisfied with the security arrangements and urge authorities to ensure our safety,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities suspect members of two little known groups – National Thawheedh Jamaath (NTJ) and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim – of carrying out the Easter attacks, though Islamic State has claimed responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said a tight-knit group of people was involved, mostly close friends and families. They spoke face-to-face, possibly to evade electronic surveillance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They were small enough that they were not using normal communications, instead meeting each other,” Wickremesinghe told Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
People participate in a mass funeral, of the seven victims belonging to one family, in Negombo, three days after the string of suicide bomb attacks (REUTERS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He added the coordinated bombings, the type of explosives used and the tightly guarded plot suggested the bombers had guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“ISIS has claimed, we also felt there has to be some international links,” he said, referring to Islamic State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities believe Zahran Hashim, the founder of NTJ, was the mastermind and one of the nine suicide bombers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One military source told Reuters that five sets of white attire commonly worn by Buddhists when visiting temples were recovered from a safe house in the east, the site of a gun battle on Friday that killed Zahran\u00e2\u2019s father and his two brothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His wife and daughter escaped an explosion with minor injuries, hospital staff and police said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

REBECCA SPEARE-COLE Courtesy Evening Standard Sri Lankan Christian devotees pray in Colombo, a week after a series of bomb blasts targeting churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka\u00a0( AFP\/Getty Images ) Sri Lankan security officials have warned that Islamist militantsbehind Easter Sunday’s suicide bombings are planning further attacks and could be dressed in military uniform. Security sources say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-terrorism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87940","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=87940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87940\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}