Contrary to what the Sri Lankan authorities had claimed, the United States had no prior information on the Easter bombings, which killed 359 people, including at least four Americans, the US ambassador to Sri Lanka told CNN on Wednesday.
“We didn’t know anything about these attacks beforehand,” Ambassador Alaina Teplitz said in an interview on U.S. television about the attacks in Sri Lanka, claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). Earlier this week, a Sri Lankan official said India and the United States had provided information before the attacks.
The Sri Lankan government has admitted loopholes in the collection and sharing of information
“I can’t speak for others. I do not know what other sources of information from the Sri Lankan government might have. I can only tell you that we had no prior information,” the ambassador told CNN. “The Sri Lankan government has admitted loopholes in the collection and sharing of information,” she added.
Sri Lankan authorities have blamed a local Islamist movement National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ),which has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, and are investigating whether it has received international logistical support.
An alert from a “foreign intelligence agency”
Ten days ago, the NTJ was the subject of an alert from a “foreign intelligence agency” circulated to the police, according to which it was preparing suicide bombings against churches and the Indian Embassy in Colombo. According to the government spokesman, the alert had not been passed on to the Prime Minister or other high-ranking ministers.
This could revive the crisis at the top of the Sri Lankan state. The police are in fact the jurisdiction of President Maithripala Sirisena, in open conflict with his head of government. The head of state announced that he planned to make major changes in the management of the security forces quickly.
