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Anonymous ID: 54afb2 April 25, 2019, 7:53 a.m. No.6309350   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>9429 >>9579 >>9621

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The Latest on the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka (all times local):

 

7:15 p.m.

 

The U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka has tweeted a warning that people should avoid “places of worship” in the island nation over the weekend because of possible extremist attacks.

 

The embassy in Colombo sent the tweet Thursday night after security was stepped up in the capital city and elsewhere in the country.

 

The tweet read: “Sri Lankan authorities are reporting that additional attacks may occur targeting places of worship. Avoid these areas over the weekend, starting tomorrow, April 26th through Sunday, April 28th. Continue to remain vigilant and avoid large crowds.”

 

Police on Thursday appealed to the public for information about three women and one man suspected of involvement in the Easter suicide attacks that killed over 350 people.

 

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7 p.m.

 

The office of Sri Lanka’s president says the country’s defense secretary has resigned following a failure of security forces to stop the Islamic State-claimed suicide bombings on Easter that killed over 350 people.

 

The office issued a statement Thursday saying that Hemasiri Fernando would continue to serve until his replacement has been appointed.

 

President Maithripala Sirisena had announced on television Tuesday that he planned to shake up the security forces. On Wednesday, he asked for the resignations of both the defense secretary and the national police chief.

 

Government leaders have acknowledged that some intelligence units were aware of possible attacks weeks before the bombings Sunday that struck three churches and three luxury hotels.

 

Sirisena said he had been kept in the dark on intelligence about the planned attacks and vowed to “take stern action” against officials who failed to share it.

 

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6:45 p.m.

 

Sri Lanka’s prime minister has acknowledged to The Associated Press that minority Ahmadi Muslims who are refugees from Pakistan have faced attacks since the Easter bombings.

 

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Thursday that security forces were trying to help the Ahmadis.

 

Wickremesinghe said that some people “had become suspicious of foreigners, not of Muslims per se. . In the heat of the moment, a few have been attacked.”

 

Sunday’s Islamic State-claimed suicide bombings killed over 350 people.

 

On Thursday, Ahmadis described to the AP how they have faced violence in the time since. About 500 have fled their homes in Negombo and are living some 30 kilometers (20 miles) away under police protection. Others live under police and military protection at the Ahmadi mosque in Negombo….

 

https://apnews.com/f4ed5cedd5fa4de796b73d4252ee6d04?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP&utm_campaign=SocialFlow