Foreign agency warned SL about possible National Thowheeth Jama'ath suicide attacks on churches
Police chief Pujuth Jayasundara sent an intelligence warning to top officers on April 11 setting out the threat.
Published: 21st April 2019 01:13 PM | Last Updated: 22nd April 2019 01:50 PM | A+A A-
Sri Lankan Army soldiers secure the area around St. Anthony's Shrine after a blast in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Photo| AP)
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's police chief made a nationwide alert 10 days before Sunday's bomb attacks in the country that suicide bombers planned to hit "prominent churches", according to the warning seen by AFP.
Police chief Pujuth Jayasundara sent an intelligence warning to top officers on April 11 setting out the threat.
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"A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama'ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo," said the alert.
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The NTJ is a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka that came to notice last year when it was linked to the vandalization of Buddhist statues.
At least 137 people were killed in six bomb attacks Sunday that included three churches.
