COLOMBO: Fifteen people including six children have diedduring a Sri Lankan security forces operation in the aftermath of the Easterattacks, as three cornered suicide bombers blew themselves up and others wereshot dead, police said today. The three men set off explosives, also killingthree women and six children inside what was believed to a jihadist safe housenear the eastern town of Kalmunai on Friday night.
"Three other men, also believed to be suicide bombers, werefound dead outside the house,” police said in a statement, adding that they hadbeen shot. Police backed by troops exchanged fire with those inside the housefor over an hour, a military official said, adding that the bodies wererecovered early Saturday following a search operation. Security forces havestepped up their searches for extremists after the Islamic State group claimedresponsibility for the suicide attacks on three churches and three luxuryhotels, which killed least 253 people and wounded hundreds more.
The joint operation between the police and the army wascarried out following a tip-off that those responsible were holed up in abuilt-up area of Kalmunai, 370 kilometres (230 miles) east of the capital. Therewere no casualties among the security forces, the police said. The governmenthas admitted major intelligence lapses, although Prime Minister RanilWickremesinghe said he was unaware of any warnings ahead of the attacks, in asign of the rift between him and President Maithripala Sirisena.
"If we had any inkling, and we had not taken action, I wouldhave handed in my resignation immediately,” he told the BBC. "But what do youdo when you are out of the loop?” Sirisena tried to sack Wickremesinghe lastyear, and experts believe the feud could have played a part in Sri Lanka’sfailure to act on intelligence warnings given weeks before the attacks.
Studio raided
Friday’s clashes came hours after the security forces raideda nearby location where they believe Islamist radicals recorded a video pledgeto Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before carrying out the Easterbombings. Police said they found an IS flag and uniforms similar to those wornby the eight fighters for the video before they launched the attacks. ISreleased the video two days after the attacks.
The head of a local extremist group, Zahran Hashim, whoappeared in the video, was killed at one of the Colombo hotels targeted, theShangri-La. He was accompanied by a second bomber identified as Ilham Ibrahim. Authoritieshad been desperately searching for Hashim after naming his group, NationalThowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ), as the perpetrators of the attack, but announcedFriday he had been killed in the hotel bombing. DNA tests are being done on asevered head to conclusively establish that it is Hashim’s, officials said.
Radicals hunted
The government is on the defensive over its failure to heeda foreign intelligence warning that NTJ was planning suicide bombings onchurches. Police chief Pujith Jayasundara became the second top official toresign over the blunders Friday, after top defense ministry official HemasiriFernando also stepped down. Sri Lanka’s Catholic leader, Cardinal MalcolmRanjith, the archbishop of Colombo, has said he felt "betrayed” by thegovernment’s failure to act on the warnings. Wickremesinghe apologized onFriday.
"We take collective responsibility and apologize to ourfellow citizens for our failure to protect victims of these tragic events,” thePM wrote on Twitter. The military have poured troops onto the streets to backup police as they search for suspects using newly granted powers under a stateof emergency. At least 94 people are in custody, including a man believed to bethe father of two of the bombers.
"We now have info that there are about 140 people in SriLanka linked to the Islamic State. We can and we will eradicate all of themvery soon,” Sirisena said Friday, announcing new legislation to ban extremistgroups.
Tourism hit
Dozens of foreigners died in the attacks and the government has said it expects the number of overseas tourists to fall by 30 percent this year, at a cost of $1.5 billion in revenues. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said the island—which depends on tourism as a cornerstone of its economy—could take up to two years to fully recover. The US State Department on Friday escalated its travel warning for Sri Lanka and ordered the departure of all school-age family members of US government employees. Terrorists "may attack with little or no warning”, it said in a statement that advised citizens to reconsider travelling to the island. Several nations including Israel, Australia and Britain have already warned their citizens against visiting Sri Lanka in the wake of the attacks.--AFP