| Day 6 events can be seen here, here and here. |
[MSN] Sri Lankan police are trying to track down 140 people believed linked to Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday suicide bombings of churches and hotels that killed 253 people, President Maithripala Sirisena said on Friday, adding some Sri Lankan youths had been involved with Islamic State since 2013. Muslims in Sri Lanka were urged to pray at home and not after the State Intelligence Services warned of possible car bomb attacks, amid fears of retaliatory violence.
The U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka also urged its citizens to avoid places of worship over the weekend after authorities reported there could be more attacks targeting religious centers.
The streets of Colombo were deserted on Friday evening, with many people leaving offices early amid tight security after the suicide bombing attacks on three churches and four hotels that also wounded about 500 people.
Nearly 10,000 soldiers were deployed across the Indian Ocean island state to carry out searches and provide security for religious centers, the military said on Friday.
The All Ceylon Jamiyathul Ullama, Sri Lanka's main Islamic religious body, urged Muslims to conduct prayers at home in case "there is a need to protect family and properties."
Police have detained at least 76 people, including foreigners from Syria and Egypt, in their investigations so far.
Authorities have so far focused their investigations on international links to two domestic Islamist groups - National Thawheed Jama'ut and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim - they believe carried out the attacks.
Sirisena said top defense and police chiefs had not shared information with him about the impending attacks. Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando resigned over the failure to prevent the attacks.
"The police chief said he will resign now," Sirisena said.
| The Times of Israel adds: |
Continuing government confusion in its investigation ‐ from drastically lowering the corpse count to misidentifying a Brown University student as a krazed killer ‐ only added to the public’s worries.
Officials from the police to the prime minister say gunnies remain on the loose and have access to explosives. That has led to increased security at shrines, churches, temples and mosques across the multiethnic country of 21 million off the southern coast of India.
On Friday night, soldiers raiding a house in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province fought a gunbattle with suspected gunnies linked to the bombings, said military front man Brig. Sumith Atapattu. After a couple of hours, he said soldiers were "engaged in a clearing operation," adding that some casualties were possible.
In the same area, police front man Ruwan Gunasekara said officers acting on information from intelligence officials found 150 sticks of blasting gelatin and 100,000 small metal balls, as well as a van and clothing suspected to be used by those involved in the Easter attack. Suicide bomb vests often are packed with such balls to increase the shrapnel in the kaboom, making them even deadlier.
Earlier Friday, police confirmed the krazed killer group’s leader, Mohammed Zahran, died in the suicide kaboom at the Shangri-La Hotel, one of six hotels and churches attacked. Zahran appeared in an Islamic State video claiming responsibility for the coordinated assault, and authorities in both Sri Lanka and Australia confirmed links between IS and the attack.
Police said Sherlocks had determined that the assailants’ military training was provided by someone they called "Army Mohideen," and that weapons training had taken place overseas and at locations in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province.
Police said they locked away
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
the operator of a copper factory who had helped Mohideen make improvised bombs and purchase empty cartridges sold by the Sri Lankan military as scrap copper.
On Friday, police apologized to a Brown University student and a human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
activist after they posted her picture to Twitter and erroneously identified her as a wanted krazed killer. The police then deleted their Twitter account.
Mission Accomplished - All Catholic Church services in Sri Lanka canceled
at what point does wise caution become capitulation?
[NY Post] All Catholic Sunday Masses in Sri Lanka have been suspended until further notice following this week's massacre ‐ where two of the bombings took place at Catholic churches, church leadership announced Friday.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, told reporters Friday that church officials got their hands on a leaked security document that named churches ‐ both Catholic and of other denominations ‐ as major targets for attackers, according to Vatican News.
He insisted that the faithful stay at home, for their own safety, according to the report.
"We don't want repetitions," Ranjith said.
Bodies of 15 found after gun battle on Sri Lanka's eastern coast
[Jpost] The bodies of 15 people, including six children, were discovered at the site of a fierce overnight shootout on the east coast of Sri Lanka, a military front man said on Saturday, six days after a rash of jacket wallah attacks that killed more than 250 people.
The shootout between troops and suspected Islamist gunnies erupted on Friday evening in Sainthamaruthu in Ampara, to the south of the town of Batticaloa, site of one of the Easter Sunday blasts at luxury hotels and churches.
The police and military had earlier said four button men and a civilian had been killed in the shootout. The 15 were found in the morning during clearance operations.
Sri Lankan security forces exchanged gun fire and found explosives, 100,000 ball bearings, ISIS flags, and uniforms
[TWITTER]
#breaking Sri Lankan security forces exchanged gun fire and found explosives, 100,000 ball bearings, ISIS flags, and uniforms while conducting raids in several cities in the eastern part of the country on Friday. Three explosions also took place during the raid, police said.
— Will Ripley (@willripleyCNN) April 26, 2019
Navy personnel arrested 3 persons in a 3-wheeler along with one kg of C-4
[TWITTER]
Navy personnel arrested 3 persons in a 3-wheeler along with one kg of C-4 explosives near Wellawatte railway station - SL Navy media Spokesman
— Azzam Ameen (@AzzamAmeen) April 26, 2019
Drones with grenades for them seized during the raid in #Samanthurai to be used against SriLankan airports
[TWITTER]
#SriLankaAttacks The drones with grenades for them seized during the raid in #Samanthurai had to be used against SriLankan airports. While searching in other buildings security forces opened fire on IS fighters killing 1 and arresting 7, but others on the run @StateDept @MFS001 pic.twitter.com/50j2bArbz1
— Rosanna (@RosannaMrtnz) April 26, 2019
| The Daily Mail has the usual photos, this time taken at the bomb factory in Sainthamaruthu, here. The suicide vest factory where the shoot out occurred is five miles away. |