Sri Lanka attacks: Prime minister orders inquiry into 'prior information' held by police
Ranil Wickremsinghe also urges probe into foreign ties of local militant group
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sri Lanka‘s prime minister has demanded an investigation into apparent intelligence failures before the Easter bombings that killed more than 200 people.
Ranil Wickremsinghe acknowledged that his government had received prior information of the attack, but that ministers were not told.
There had not been an adequate response, he said, and an inquiry was necessary to find out how the information was used.
He also said the government needed to look at the international ties of a local militant group.
The Agence France Presse news agency reported that it had seen documents showing that police issued an intelligence alert to top officers 10 days ago, warning that suicide bombers planned to hit “prominent churches”.
Chiefs cited a foreign intelligence service as reporting that a little-known Islamist group was planning attacks.
A Sri Lanka police spokesman said he was not aware of the intelligence report.
Local Christian groups have said they faced increasing intimidation from some extremist Buddhist monks in recent years.
Last year, there were clashes between the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community and minority Muslims, with some hardline Buddhist groups accusing Muslims of forcing people to convert to Islam.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments