News

The United States (US) has reportedly stated that it believes members of the militant group blamed for Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday attacks may be at large and planning more assaults.

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B. Teplitz has made this observation to Reuters on Tuesday.

“We do believe that the terrorist threat is ongoing and there may be active plotters. Active members of the attack group that carried out the terror attacks on Easter Sunday may still be at large,” Ambassador Teplitz has said.

“We certainly have reason to believe that the active attack group has not been fully rendered inactive. We do believe that there is active planning underway,” the Ambassador has added.

Leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a propaganda video, asserted that the battle for Baghouz, ISIS's final bastion in eastern Syria, "is over." 

Baghouz, the last piece of populated land held by ISIS, which once spread across a third of Iraq and Syria, is roughly equivalent to the size of the United Kingdom and attracted 40,000 fighters to its cause."There will be more to come after this battle," said al-Baghdadi, apparently referring to the final fight in Baghouz.

Meanwhile, an audio message was also put out, purportedly of al-Baghdadi, saying that the April 21 attacks in Sri Lanka, which left at least 253 people dead, was "vengeance" for ISIS's "brothers in Baghouz".

"Your brothers in Sri Lanka have healed the hearts of monotheists [ISIS members] with their suicide bombings, which shook the beds of the crusaders during Easter to avenge your brothers in Baghouz," al-Baghdadi was reportedly heard saying.

"Our battle today is a war of attrition to harm the enemy, and they should know that jihad will continue until doomsday," he mentioned in the video.

Wearing a black robe with a beige vest, al-Baghdadi gave an 18-minute address in the video. However, it is unclear when the footage was filmed.

The leader of the Islamic State (IS) group, Abu Bakr al-Babhdadi has come out making a public declaration that the IS group would seek revenge for its loss of territory as well as claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka that killed over 250 plus civilians including foreigners.

Baghdadi has made this statement through a video recording, which is also his first public appearance in five years. He was seen since 2014, when he proclaimed from Mosul the creation of a “caliphate” across parts of Syria and Iraq.

In this new footage, Baghdadi has acknowledged the defeat at Baghuz, the group’s last stronghold in the region. Baghdadi has said that the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka were carried out as revenge for the fall of the Syrian town of Baghuz.

Looking at Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday attacks that were primarily targeted at Catholic churches and five star city hotels, a recent analysis notes that IS targets churches because of the belief that the concept of the holy trinity goes against the concept of one God. 

As for the reason to target hotels, it is believed that the reason would be the decree issued by IS to target nationals of countries that belong to the coalition states, and hotels and popular restaurants are considered as places where nationals of coalition states would become victims. 

However, the BBC has stated that it is not clear when Baghdadi’s video was recorded. IS has reportedly said it was shot in April.

The footage was posted on the militant group's al-Furqan media network.

A US State Department spokesman has been quoted as saying by BBC that the tapes would be inspected by analysts to ascertain their authenticity, adding that the US-led coalition remains committed to ensuring any IS “leaders who remain are delivered the justice that they deserve.”

In the past two years, although ISIS has lost territory the size of Britain inside Syria and Iraq, it still has 08 official branches and more than 02 dozen networks regularly conducting terrorist and insurgent operations across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, according to the US National Strategy for Counter-terrorism.

Political Commentators have expressed their suspicions about the failure to arrest SLPP frontliner and UPFA member Piyal Nishantha for attempting to racially provoke people by falsely claiming that 11 troops had lost their lives in a crossfire with a terror outfit. According to the commentators this has raised serious concerns on the current state of the country’s rule of law. 

At a time where the country is reeling from a terrorist and suicide bomb attack, such comments which may create suspicions between various religious communities cannot be taken lightly they pointed out. 

According to them, it is unlikely that as a responsible MP, Piyal Nishantha was unaware that such comments could lead to religious and racial riots in the country, especially as he was employed as a teacher before joining politics. They also point out that claiming that 11 soldiers had died in the operation on the television program during a time the public were in shock 10 years after the war ended could not have been accidental. 

They say it appears the MP had planned to make the comment and when questioned by the interviewer, the MP had claimed he takes full responsibility for the comment in a bid to convince the public that the false claim was in fact true. 

However, despite his claim, the Police Media Spokesman and the Army Commander for the Eastern Province had stressed that no harm had come to any of the troops engaged in the raid. As a result, it is evident that the claim made by the MP is both false and misleading. 

Political analysts point out that the MP had attempted to drag the country towards yet another Black July in 1983. Commenting on the matter one analyst said: 

“Black July riots commenced when the LTTE attacked a military convoy on July 23, 1983 in the North. 13 Soldiers died in this attack. Their funerals should have been held in their own villages. However, on the 24th, it was decided that all the funerals will be held en masse at the Borella Cemetery. This is where the attacks against the Tamil community commenced spreading to other areas in the country”. 

“It was the moment of their burial in Colombo that prepared the people for the attack. A much more serious situation would have unraveled on the night of 26th. The Easter Sunday attack happened on the 21st. The whole country was in shock. The Buddhist community would have taken the news as 11 soldiers being killed in one place at the same time on the day the traditional seventh day almsgiving was being held”

“Luckily the authorities had imposed curfew and were conducting search operations across the country. After 30 years of war it also appeared that the people had rejected such behaviour. But even if few incidents of violence took place and if any Sinhalese were harmed, the country would have been in real danger.”

“We also must not forget that if race riots had taken place all the operations being conducted against the terrorists by the Tri-forces and the Police would have stopped. Only a few number of people are involved in these terror activities and the whole Muslim community is not involved in this. It is these people who are providing us with important information on the terror suspects. According to security forces, these people are continuing to support in their efforts”. 

“But look at the comment made by the MP Piyal Nishantha. What if the fire he started spread quickly. Will the Muslims then support our forces? The Black July of 1983 pushed the innocent Tamils towards the LTTE. This time around, the Muslims would have been pushed towards international terrorism. Isn't that our real challenge? Our country would have become yet another Sudan if so.”

“What we must understand now is the politics behind the attempt to make this country a graveyard. That politics wants blood of  a river to run in this country so that a supposed hero or saviour can appear asking for the peoples' vote to save them.”

“I remember Minister Mangala Samaraweera had grasped this. At the very first moment, he said some who engage in politics fueled by blood would try to gain political advantage at this time. He therefore had complained to the CID in this regard as well. But where are the investigations on this matter?”

“This is why we are pointing out that the failure to take action against the MP has caused serious doubts on the enforcement of the country’s rule of law. If a common man did something similar what would his fate be? He would have been dragged away by now. Doesn't this apply to Piyal Nishantha? Is there a political mandate to cause race riots through this attack and aftermath? Shouldn't the MP therefore be questioned in this regard? And what is most dangerous is that he has since failed to come out in public and apologize for the false comments made by him on a public platform”.

Parliamentarian Ashu Marasinghe said that Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Arjuna Ranatunga had offered to relinquish his Cabinet portfolio to facilitate the entry of Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka as the Minister of Law and Order.

Marasinghe claimed that Ranatunga made this offer at the government's group meeting.

According to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the Cabinet can only comprise of 30 members and as such, Fonseka can be appointed as a Cabinet Minister only if a another Cabinet Minister would resign.  

A group of UNP MPs also requested President Maithripala Sirisena in writing to appoint the Field Marshal as the Law and Order Minister yesterday.

President Maithripala Sirisena has appointed ex-army commander General Shantha Kottegoda, WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, as the country's new Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, today (29).

The appointment of General Kottegoda comes after his predecessor, Hemasiri Fernando, stepped down from the position

The National Peace Council of Sri Lanka called on the Sri Lanka government to contain the developing situation of vigilante justice and mob attacks particularly on the broader Muslim community.

"We draw the government’s attention to the urgent need to contain the developing situation of vigilante justice and mob attacks particularly on the broader Muslim community. We urge the government to establish mechanisms to address these situations with appropriate public messaging and to instruct law enforcement authorities to act swiftly to demonstrate that such acts will not be tolerated," the National Peace Council said in an open letter addressed to the the President, PM and MPs. 

They pointed out that there is a communication vacuum and it is the government’s responsibility to provide accurate and timely information to the public.  

"False rumours and misinformation cannot be stopped by legislation – they can only be countered by facts and credible and accurate information.  The government must speak with one voice on this matter."

They called on President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe put aside their personal and political differences and collaborate whole-heartedly and without reservation to bring this situation under control. 

"The high cost of this political in-fighting was most clearly revealed in failures to share vital intelligence. We cannot afford a second breach.  We urge all Members of Parliament to put aside their political differences and act responsibly to support the long-term national interest,"  they said.

Full text of the open letter sent to the President, PM and and Members of Parliament is found below.

Open Letter to the President, the Prime Minister, members of the Cabinet and Members of Parliament regarding the situation in Sri Lanka

 Your Excellencies:
 
We, the undersigned women and men, are members of civil society and are drawn from all religious and ethnic communities. Our common goal has been to advance the political, social and economic and cultural rights of the people by promoting peace, harmony and social justice for all.  We have engaged constructively with all governments in the past and will continue do so in this instance.
 
We are appalled by the carnage in Sri Lanka. Our sympathies are with the victims and their families and with our beloved country.
 
We urge the government to expeditiously establish the truth and find the perpetrators and their allies, within the framework of human rights standards.

We draw the government’s attention to the urgent need to contain the developing situation of vigilante justice and mob attacks particularly on the broader Muslim community. We urge the government to establish mechanisms to address these situations with appropriate public messaging and to instruct law enforcement authorities to act swiftly to demonstrate that such acts will not be tolerated.
 
We recognize the need for emergency laws to respond to this situation and rightly so. Yet, we note with deep regret that the emergency regulations published on 22nd April 2019 are overly broad. It is the responsibility of the government to take measures to ensure that mis-use / abuse of these extremely broad powers are anticipated and addressed.
 
There have already been reports of ill treatment during searches and there is an urgent need for law enforcement and security personnel to be informed that they must act professionally and with due care. Excesses experienced during times like this are likely to fuel insecurity nurture hate, and even lead to more violence.
 
There is a communication vacuum and it is the government’s responsibility to provide accurate and timely information to the public.  False rumours and misinformation cannot be stopped by legislation – they can only be countered by facts and credible and accurate information.  The government must speak with one voice on this matter.
 
We urge that the President and Prime Minister put aside their personal and political differences and collaborate whole-heartedly and without reservation to bring this situation under control. The high cost of this political in-fighting was most clearly revealed in failures to share vital intelligence. We cannot afford a second breach.
 
We urge all Members of Parliament to put aside their political differences and act responsibly to support the long-term national interest. We request a joint meeting with the President and Prime Minister to discuss this situation.
 
We, as civil society offer our assistance through our wide networks of community-based organisations.  They are currently engaged in advocating for calm, for peace, and national unity. These networks can share information and be source of feedback about consequential community issues that may arise. If the government develops the capacity to respond swiftly and decisively to such issues it would certainly strengthen the efforts of the authorities.
 
 Geoffrey AlagaratnamPresident's Counsel

Dr Vinya Ariyaratne
Sarvodaya

K.N.Deen
All Ceylon YMMA Conference 

Visaka Dharmadasa 
Association of War Affected Women (AWAW)

Fr Rohan Dominic
Claretian Missionaries (CMF)

Mangala Fernando
Women's Political Academy (WPA)

Fr Oswald Firth OMI
Peoples Association for Peace and Development (PAPD)

Manjula Gajanayake
Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

Saman Hamangoda
Partners in Alternative Training (PALTRA)

Rohana Hettiarachchi
People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL)

Sakunthala Kadirgamar
Law and Society Trust (LST)

Sepali Kottegoda
Women and Media Collective
Sri Lanka Women's NGO Forum

Viola Perera
Action Network For Migrant Workers (ACTFORM)

Jehan Perera
National Peace Council (NPC)

Fr Srian Ranasinghe OMI
Director Oblate Missions

Kumudini Samuel 
Women and Media Collective (WMD)

Christobel Saverimuttu
Sri Lanka Council of Religions for Peace (SLCRP)

Fr. Rohan Silva OMI
Centre for Society and Religion (CSR)

Padmini Weerasuriya
Mothers and Daughters of Lanka

Joe William
Centre for Communication Training (CCT)

Mohamed Adamaly (Attorney-at-Law)
Sanchia Brown (Women and Media Collective)
Shashika De Silva
Ramesh Fernando
Adrian Ferdinands
Lasantha Garusinghe (Attorney-at-Law)
Velayudan Jayachithra (Women and Media Collective)
Diana Joseph
Nishantha Kumara
Safi Nayaj
Shantha D. Pathirana
Shivantha Ratnayake (Centre for Communication Training)
Raja Senanayake (National Peace Council)
Vijayanathan Thusandra
Nagaratnam Vijayakanthan (National Peace Council)
Saman Seneviratne
Thiyagaraja Waradas (University of Colombo)
Subha Wijesiriwardena (Women and Media Collective)

13 foreign nationals arrested by police for violating Sri Lankan immigration laws during their stay in the country, police said on Monday.

The 20-year-old Indian national was arrested from Mount Lavinia without a valid visa on Monday, police spokesman S P Ruwan Gunasekara said, adding that he would be produced before the magistrate's court on Tuesday.

The others arrested for the crime include ten Nigerians, an Iraqi and a Thai national staying in different parts of the Lankan capital. They will be produced in the courts today, he was quoted as saying by the Sunday Times.

The arrests have come after the Sri Lankan government beefed up security measures following the country's worst terror attacks on Easter Sunday, killing 253 people and injuring 500 others.

A total of 106 suspects, including a Tamil medium teacher and a school principal, have been arrested in connection with the Easter Sunday blasts.

President Maithripala Sirisena has instructed the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) to lift the social media ban that was imposed after the Easter Sunday attacks, the Director General of the Government Information Department said today.

Access to popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram as well as messaging apps like Whatsapp and Viber along with Youtube were banned.

The Director General of Government Information Department Nalaka Kaluwewa also requested the general public to act with responsibility, now that the temporary ban on social media has been lifted.

Islamophobia that is slowly engulfing people across the globe, with Muslims being attacked globally for following the religion it was a local Muslim youngster that had first raised the alarm about the terrorist safe house in Sri Lankan’s Kalmunai town followed by a raid by the security forces that killed 15 people inside the safe house.

It was this young youth who was passing through the street near the iron bridge in the Sainthamaruthu locality who had noticed a man standing with a rifle inside the house.

And in no time, the residents gathered at the house, demanded the IDs of people inside.

Local Masjid committee too arrived at the spot after one of the men tried to fire in the air and the Police and the Army were alerted.

Taking action on the tip-off received, the whole episode lasted for about one-and-a-half hours on Friday evening said the sources.According to sources, at least 15 people, including children are believed to have been killed in the raid including the father and two brothers of Zaharan Hashim while Hashim’s wife and four-year-old daughter were rescued.

Hashim is the suspected mastermind behind the Easter Sunday blasts that has killed over 250 people in churches and hotels across the country.

“We were all deeply upset about blasts on Easter, especially the killing of so many people at their places of worship. This made us angry, and cautious too,” said a local resident Mohammed Sulfikkar.

“The youth who saw the man with the rifle alerted others and all of us went to the house. We were suspicious because they rented that house only 10 days ago, and had no contact with anyone in the area. When we asked them to show their IDs, they were evasive. One of them got angry and said they were Muslims and it was unfair to suspect them. But we told them that we were also Muslims. When the argument got heated, one of them took out a rifle and tried to fire at the air… many of us ran.”

Another committee member said: “When we reached the house, the situation had escalated. One of them started shouting at people and called everyone ‘betrayers’. In between, he promised they would not harm Muslims. But we were adamant that we wanted to search the house.”

“One of the youths inside started throwing currency notes at the crowd. He abused us in Tamil and shouted at us to ‘eat the money’ and leave them alone. All this happened in less than 30 minutes. We alerted a traffic police officer in the neighbourhood and soon the Army arrived,” said the committee member.

One of Sri Lanka’s leading transportation service providers 'PickMe', categorically denied the false allegations circulating on social media of a donation made by PickMe to a third party religious organization. In a statement, PickMe Chairman Ajit Gunewardene called the allegation a 'fabricated story with sinister motives to take advantage and exploit the current tragedy  and serve some unknown personal agenda."

“I would like to vehemently deny that such an event ever took place and would categorically state that PickMe has not given any donation to such a party. This is a fabricated story with sinister motives to take advantage and exploit the current tragedy and serve some unknown personal agendas,” Gunewardene stated in his public statement also mentioning the proof of the photo is digitally edited.

Full Statement of PickMe Chairman Ajit Gunewardene:

A statement from the Chairman of PickMe Sri Lanka - Ajit Gunewardene

Dear All,

In the aftermath of the tragic events on Easter Sunday, Sri Lanka as a Nation has been shaken to its core. I have no fitting words to express my grief and concern towards all those impacted by this senseless violence.

Our deepest condolences go out to the bereaved families and we hope that those who suffered injuries will make a full recovery very soon.

It has come to my attention that there is a false allegation circulating on social media and other communication channels of a donation made by PickMe to a third party religious organization.

I would like to vehemently deny that such an event ever took place and would categorically state that PickMe has not given any donation to such a party. This is a fabricated story with sinister motives to take advantage and exploit the current tragedy and serve some unknown personal agendas.

As proof of this I give the following:

The original photograph of the digitally edited version used in this story, was in fact taken on the 4th of September 2014 in the United Kingdom, when the Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham made a donation to the organization ‘Islamic Relief’. The official link to this can be found here: https://www.islamic-relief.org.uk/islamic-relief-receive-h…/

It goes without saying that PickMe had absolutely no involvement with this since the company was not even founded in 2014!

But it saddens us all that certain parties will resort to such despicable and cheap tactics to tarnish the image of a successful Sri Lankan startup which we are all proud of.

PickMe is a homegrown Sri Lankan startup, founded in June 2015. The company now has a diverse group of investors which include established Sri Lankan companies and renowned Sri Lankan business-personnel. 

Our Board of Directors represents our shareholders and consists of Ajit Gunewardene as Chairman, Conrad Dias (representing LOLC PLC.), Dinesh Rodrigo (representing Interblocks Ltd.), Ruchi Gunewardene (Managing Director - Brand Finance Lanka) and Jiffry Zulfer who is the CEO of the company, managing its day to day operations.

Over the past 3 years we have revolutionized transport and mobility for all Sri Lankans while creating income opportunities for thousands of our people. We will continue to provide a convenient transportation solution to anybody using our service. Through our latest ventures - PickMe Logistics and PickMe Food; we will work towards revolutionizing the Logistics industry and Food industry of Sri Lanka as well.

We are an organization that is continuously looking to the future, therefore the PickMe team will provide an uninterrupted service for our patrons, who depend on our platform for their day to day needs, as well as our partners who depend on us for their income.

I would further like to extend my gratitude to the driver partners and the PickMe team who assisted our patrons during the past week. All parties worked tirelessly to ensure reliable and secure passage for those traveling home as well as for those who needed airport transfers during curfew.

Amidst the darkness of this troubled period, we are proud to witness the amazing resilience and solidarity of the Sri Lankan people and the potential for our Nation to rise up stronger from the ashes.

I am sure that all of us will do our part in rebuilding Sri Lanka and keeping our beautiful country free from violence, hate and negativity.
Thank you!

Ajit Gunewardene, Chairman - PickMe

The father and two brothers of the suspected mastermind of Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday bombings were killed when security forces stormed their safe house on the east coast two days ago, police and a relative said on Sunday.

Zainee Hashim, Rilwan Hashim and their father Mohamed Hashim, who appear in a video circulating on social media calling for all-out war against non-believers, were among at least 15 killed in a fierce gun battle with the military on the east coast on Friday.

Kamal Jayanathdhi, the officer in charge at Kalmunai police station on the east coast, confirmed the three men had died along with a child that appears in the video, and that the undated clip in which they discuss martyrdom, had been shot in the same house where the gun battle took place.

Two people who were inside the house, a woman and a seven-year-old girl believed to be relatives of the men, survived, he said, while a woman was killed in crossfire on a nearby street.

Niyaz Sharif, the brother-in-law of Zahran Hashim, the suspected ringleader of the wave of Easter Sunday bombings that killed over 250 people in churches and hotels across the island nation, told Reuters the video showed Zahran’s two brothers and father.

Sri Lanka has been on high alert since the attacks on Easter Sunday, with nearly 10,000 soldiers deployed across the island to carry out searches and hunt down members of two local Islamist groups believed to have carried out the attack.

Authorities have detained more than 100 people, including foreigners from Syria and Egypt since the April 21 bombings.

On Sunday police in the eastern town of Kattankudy raided a mosque founded by Zahran which doubled up as the headquarters of his group, the National Thawheedh Jamaath (NTJ).