SL govt admits 'major' intelligence lapses; President asks defence sec, police chief to resign

Sri Lankan government Wednesday admitted that "major" intelligence lapses led to the horrific Easter Sunday blasts and asked two top security officials to resign, even as the death toll in the coordinated attacks rose to 359 amidst a nationwide manhunt to nab the perpetrators.

Nine Suicide bombers, believed to be members of local Islamist extremist group called National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels.

President Maithripala Sirisena has asked Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara to quit after their failure to prevent the blasts despite having prior intelligence.

Sirisena Tuesday night pledged that he will make changes in top positions in the security establishment within the next 24 hours, saying the people were questioning why action had not been taken by the top security officials despite the availability of intelligence support from a friendly neighbouring country.

Meanwhile, several people succumbed to their injuries sustained in the blasts, taking the death toll to 359.

"The number of death now is 359," police spokesman Ruwan Guansekera said.

He said that the search operations were being carried out and so far 60 people, all Sri Lankan nationals, have been arrested in connection with the attacks.

Many of the arrested people have suspected links to the NTJ, the group blamed for the bombings. However, the NTJ has not claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks and identified the seven suicide bombers who carried out the devastating blasts.

Guansekera said that there were nine suicide bombers including a woman involved in the bombings. "Eight of them have been identified," he added.

Top officials have acknowledged that Sri Lanka received intelligence about possible terror strikes ahead of the attacks, but both President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have said that they did not receive the information.

State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene acknowledged that there had been "major" lapses in the security arrangements.

"We (the government) have to take the responsibility," he said.

"Some of them (the attackers), in earlier incidents, had been taken into custody (after) small skirmishes, but nothing of this magnitude," Wijewardene told reporters here.

Intelligence suggested that the attackers were motivated by the Christchurch shootings, the minister said.

"One of the suicide bombers studied overseas. Most of them are well-educated, and come from maybe middle-class or upper-middle-class. So they are financially quite independent and their families are quite stable financially.

"We believe that one of the suicide bombers studied in the UK and maybe later on did his post-graduate in Australia, before coming back to settle in Sri Lanka," he said.

Wijewardena said the multiple bomb attacks were carried out by a splinter group of the NTJ. The group had differences and the final attack was carried out by a group that left the main NTJ, he added.

Local and international media reported that India and the US provided specific warnings about terror attacks to Sri Lanka, ahead of the Easter Sunday bombings.

However, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina Teplitz said, "We had no prior knowledge of these attacks."