Colombo - Sri Lanka's Catholic churches
have cancelled Sunday mass in the capital Colombo for a second
straight week, citing foreign intelligence warnings of threats
to worshippers in the wake of the deadly Easter bombings on
churches and hotels.
Sri Lankan security forces have said they were maintaining a
high level of alert as intelligence reports indicated the
militants were likely to strike before the beginning of the
Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which is due to begin on Monday.
And the US ambassador to Sri Lanka said this week that
some of the Islamist militants behind the Easter bombings that
killed over 250 people were likely to be still at large and
could be planning more attacks.
"The security situation has not improved yet," Colombo
Archdiocese spokesman Edmund Tillekeratne said on Friday.
Colombo's Archbishop, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, said on
Thursday that a "highly reliable foreign source" had warned of
an attack on a prominent church. He also requested that all
private Catholic schools in and around the capital remain shut
for now.
Schools are due to reopen again on Monday, and the Education
Ministry has said at least one police officer will be posted at
each institution to protect children.
A view of St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka, which was damaged in the Easter Sunday bomb attacks. File picture: Chamila Karunarathne/AP
Sri Lankan authorities, who have come under fire for not
acting on repeated warnings about attacks, did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
Police suspect members of two previously little-known
Islamist militant groups based in Sri Lanka - National Thawheedh
Jamaath and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim - of carrying out the
April 21 attacks.
Sri Lanka has previously said that they suspect the
attackers had international links, although the precise nature
of those connections aren’t known.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the coordinated
bombings in Sri Lanka, but has not give evidence for its claim.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Interpol, as
well as other undisclosed foreign agencies, are helping Sri
Lanka with the probe.
Local intelligence officials believe that Zahran Hashim, a
Tamil-speaking preacher from the east of the Indian Ocean island
country, could have played a key role in plotting the Easter
bombings. Officials believe he was one of nine suicide bombers.