Sri Lanka extends state of emergency
Sri Lanka’s president yesterday extended by a further month the state of emergency imposed immediately after the Easter Sunday Islamist bombings that killed 258 people.
Maithripala Sirisena issued a proclamation saying that the emergency, which gives sweeping powers to security forces to arrest and detain suspects for long periods of time, would continue for another 30 days, citing “public security.”
Sri Lanka initially imposed the emergency to crack down on local jihadists blamed for the April 21 bombings that targeted three churches and three luxury hotels.
Three weeks after the suicide bombings, anti-Muslim riots broke out in a province north of the capital Colombo in a backlash against the attacks. At least one Muslim man was killed and hundreds of Muslim-owned shops and homes were destroyed. Several mosques were also vandalized.
The police and the military say they have arrested scores of suspects, both in connection with the bombings and over what appeared to be organized violence against the Muslim minority.
The authorities say they have neutralized the jihadist threat after arresting almost all those involved in the Easter attacks but troops and police remain on alert across the island.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
- RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证:沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证:31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证:0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证:沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证:沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.