{"id":91090,"date":"2019-07-05T15:08:47","date_gmt":"2019-07-05T22:08:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=91090"},"modified":"2019-07-05T15:08:47","modified_gmt":"2019-07-05T22:08:47","slug":"easter-sunday-bomb-blast-in-sri-lanka-part-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/07\/05\/easter-sunday-bomb-blast-in-sri-lanka-part-10\/","title":{"rendered":"EASTER SUNDAY BOMB BLAST IN SRI LANKA Part 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The Easter Sunday\nattacks are considered, worldwide, as one of the most sophisticated attacks in\nrecent years. The bombs were all highly impactful and were detonated at precise\nlocations with impeccable timing, ensuring maximum impact and maximum\ncasualties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These attacks in Sri Lanka are said to be the\nbiggest single terrorist attack targeting civilians ever to take place in South\nAsia. So many people did not lose their lives even in the Mumbai attacks of\n2008, said analysts. Even during that 30 year war, no single attack carried out\nby the terrorists targeting civilians ever resulted in as much carnage as the\nEaster Sunday attacks. The LTTE also carried out co-ordinated simultaneous\nattacks on multiple targets but even they were not able to wreak the same\namount of destruction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Communist\nParty issued a statement on the event. From all evidence hitherto revealed, it\nwas a wall-designed, clearly calculated, cleverly organized terrorist attack\nshowing an international pattern of terrorism, said the statement.  Though it is too early to form conclusions,\nit is abundantly clear that the intention of the perpetrators was to\ndestabilize the society, dismantle the economy, create fear and suspicion\namongst religious and ethnic minorities and promote backlash. The hands of\nextremist groups associated with drug barons cannot be ruled out. The gradual\nshift of terrorism from Middle East to the South Asia, judging from the pattern\nof events, is a matter of grave concern, concluded the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bombers had used “Mother of\nSatan” explosives favored by the Islamic State group. That is a new sign\nof foreign involvement said analysts. This\nattack on Christians and targeting foreigners and the claim by ISIL will give\nan international dimension to this event. Sri Lanka will come alongside\nAfghanistan, Iraq and Syria and this will lead to the possibility of foreign\nintervention.  Both the prime minister\nand the president are with one voice saying that Sri Lanka \u2018needs the help of\nforeign intelligence agencies.\u2019 This is\nglobal terrorism so we need the expertise of other countries they\nsaid. In his April 26 special statement the PM, no less than six times,\nmentioned the need for foreign assistance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Detectives said the back-pack bombs used in\nthe April 21 attacks on three churches and three hotels contained the explosive\nas Triacetone Triperoxide, or TATP, an unstable but easily made mixture favored\nby Islamic State militants who call it “Mother of Satan”.”It\nlooks like they used a cocktail of TATP and gelignite and some chemicals in the\nEaster attacks. Investigators had initially believed that C4 explosives \u2014 a favored\nweapon of Tamil Tiger rebels \u2014 were used, but forensic tests found TATP which\ncauses more burning than C4. .Police have also confirmed that 100 kilograms\n(220 pounds) of explosives found in January in the islands northwest was TATP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The explosives were manufactured by local\njihadists with Islamic State expertise. “The group had easy access to\nchemicals and fertilizer to get the raw materials to make TATP,” an official\ninvolved in the investigation said. “The group\nhad easy access to chemicals and fertiliser to get the raw materials to make\nTATP,” an official involved in the investigation said. Sri\nLankan and international investigators are anxious to know just how much\noutside help went into the attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lankan detectives say the National\nThowheeth Jama\u2019ath (NTJ), local militants blamed for the attacks, must have had\nforeign help to assemble the bombs. “They would have had a face-to-face\nmeeting to transfer this technology. This is not something you can do by\nwatching a YouTube video,” said the official, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. \nRohan Gunaratne commented on the shocking security failure\u201d. He said\nthe April 21 attacks had revealed the collective failure of the political\nleadership. Sri Lanka had experienced the Easter Sunday suicide bombings due to\npoliticians playing politics with national security. Having come to power in\nJanuary 2015, the new administration had done away with check points. That\nshould never have happened. The government also confined the military to\nbarracks. That was a huge mistake. Western powers and smaller political parties\nincluding the TNA wanted to restrict the military. Another critic observed that\nthis would not have happened if Mahinda Rajapaksa has been allowed to continue\nas Prime Minister  after  his appointment in October 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka should have monitored links between\nZahran Hasim’s group and the ISIS. A senior Muslim officer responsible for\nmonitoring the activities of Zahran had been moved overseas, said Gunaratne. In\naddition to that about 500 intelligence officers had been either arrested or\nexposed, Prof. Gunaratne said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public\nare furious about the bomb blasts. The reaction of the public indicates that\nSri Lanka is not an insipid \u2018soft state\u2019 , a \u2018failed state\u2019,  or a \u2018rogue state\u2019 . It is now a very, very Angry\nState, determined to settle issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A father who\nlost his two children in a bomb blast at St. Anthony\u2019s Church on April 21, 2019\nfiled a Supreme Court petition on the matter. The petitioner has cited as\nrespondents the IGP and the Secretary Defence. He wants the court to direct the\nAttorney General to order the prosecution of the respondents for criminal negligence.\nThe petitioner has alleged that the respondents had prior information about the\nterror attacks but did not care to conduct investigations or provide security.\nThe victim\u2019s children were in their teens. Two other petitions have also  been filed by aggrieved family members (Island\n21. 5.19. P 1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five\nattorneys representing the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) filed a\nFundamental Rights petition in May 2019 in the Supreme Court against Easter\nSunday attack probe operations. They\nare seeking a declaration that any person found interfering with or attempting\nto interfere with the anti-terrorism operations of the Police and the Armed\nForces should be forthwith arrested and arraigned before the law or otherwise\ndealt with swiftly in terms of the law. This\npetition had been filed by BASL President Kalinga N. Indatissa PC, BASL Deputy\nPresident Shavindra Fernando PC, BASL Secretary Kaushalya Nawaratne, BASL\nTreasurer Nalin Chandika De Silva and BASL Assistant Secretary Vishwa De Livera\nTennekoon naming Defence Secretary Gen. S.H.S. Kottegoda (Retd), former Defence\nSecretary Hemasiri Fernando, IGP Pujith Jayasundera and the cabinet of\nministers as respondents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A criminal\ninvestigation is under way to find out why former Defence Secretary Hemasiri\nFernando and Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera failed to act on intelligence\nwarnings about the Easter Sunday massacre announced the media In May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April, President\nSirisena appointed a committee headed by serving Supreme Court Judge Vijith\nMalalgoda, PC and two others, N.K. Illangakoon and Padmasiri Jayamanne, a\nformer Secretary to a number of ministries, to\nstudy and report on the bomb blasts. As directed, the Committee handed in its\ninterim report within two weeks. Thereafter, it sought an extension of its term\nuntil May 31 to complete the final report. The final report was handed on June\n10th<\/sup>. The contents were not made public. But the media said it had\nlearned that the committee had made strong strictures on the two top officials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The report was seen by Attorney General\nDappula de Livera. After studying the report, the Attorney General ordered a\nprobe.  The team was headed by\nSuperintendent of Police J.T.D. Jayasinghe of the Criminal Investigation Department\n(CID). The CID submitted\nits report, on June 26. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the basis of these two reports, Attorney\nGeneral ordered the acting IGP, on June 27, to\nproduce former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and IGP Pujith Jayasundara,\nwho is currently on compulsory leave, in courts over their failure to prevent\nthe Easter Sunday attacks. The AG had\ndecided that Fernando and Jayasundera had neglected their duties and not\nprevented the terrorist attacks, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the order for their arrest on\ncharges of criminal negligence and the failure to prevent or minimize the\nEaster Sunday terrorist attacks,  was\nmade, Hemasiri Fernando  , was admitted  to National Hospital with a heart attack and\nIGP Pujith Jayasundara was  admitted to\nthe Police Hospital. Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne   went to the Police Hospital personally and\nthen ordered the arrest of the two persons. They presently remain in hospital,\nunder arrest.  They\nwere further remanded till July 9. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmagisterial inquiry into the incident was taken up before the Court on July  3rd<\/sup>. Deputy<\/em> Solicitor General Thusitha Mudalige appearing on behalf of the\nCriminal Investigation Department (CID) yesterday informed the Court that\nformer Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and IGP Pujitha Jayasundara had\nreceived several intelligence information briefs regarding the attack. But they\nhad not taken any action regarding the Easter Sunday attacks. The State\nIntelligence Service  had sent letters on\nApril 09, 18 and 20 to the IGP and Secretary of Defense.DSG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thusitha\nMudalige informed the court that IGP Jayasundara had received details regarding\nthe Easter Sunday attack on April 09. DSG Mudalige further told the Court that\nthe then IGP Jayasundara had sent that letter to Western Province Senior Deputy\nInspector General of Police, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Special Task\nForce, Senior Deputy Inspector General (Special Protection Division) and Senior\nDeputy Inspector General of Terrorism Investigation Division.When the National\nSecurity Council met on April 9, Secretary of Defense Hemasiri Fernando had not\nmentioned anything regarding that matter before the Council. A blast took place\nin Kattankudy area on April 17.  They\nidentified it as a prior signal for the next blast but had not taken any action\nagainst the terror attack\u201d the DSG said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue of\nwho is responsible for the Easter bomb blasts and what punishment should be\nmeted out to them, is now  developing\nnicely, and will be decided eventually, But this will be the last essay in this\nseries. (Concluded)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS The Easter Sunday attacks are considered, worldwide, as one of the most sophisticated attacks in recent years. The bombs were all highly impactful and were detonated at precise locations with impeccable timing, ensuring maximum impact and maximum casualties. These attacks in Sri Lanka are said to be the biggest single terrorist attack targeting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91090","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=91090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91090\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}