Colombo may seek Islamabad's help to trace terrorists: Sri Lankan premier

There is no evidence yet to suggest any particular country has backed these terrorists, says Wickremesinghe

Underscoring Pakistan’s support to the war on terror, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Colombo may seek Islamabad’s help to trace terrorists behind the Easter Sunday attacks.

In a written interview to the Hindustan Times, Wickremesinghe said Pakistan has fully supported Sri Lanka’s war on terror. “If necessary, we will seek their help to trace the terrorists and eliminate them.”

The Sri Lankan premier believes that the terror attack may boost ties between the two countries. “I see this tragic event as further strengthening the trust that exists between our countries and increasing cooperation,” he said.

He dismissed Hindustan Times’ insinuation connecting Pakistan to the bombings. “While we are investigating the possibility of foreign links, there is no evidence yet to suggest any particular country has backed these terrorists," said Wickremesinghe.

“All the countries in our region are faced with the same threats,” he stressed. “Even the best of defences can sometimes be breached by ruthless terrorists, as we have seen time and again, all over the world.”

He said the Sri Lankan intelligence has worked with their counterparts abroad. “But this is the first time that global terrorism has struck Sri Lanka. This is a new experience for us and we will work with our international allies to apprehend all the perpetrators.”

In its report, the Indian newspaper claimed nine Pakistanis were among the 76 arrested by the Sri Lankan Police. However, the Foreign Office on Thursday confirmed that the Pakistanis were detained for overstaying visa and not on terror suspicious.

Sri Lankans urged to avoid mosques, churches amid fears of more attacks

Arrests

At least 76 people, including several foreigners, have been rounded up since Sunday, but police on Thursday for the first time identified seven people they were looking for and appealed to the public for help in finding them.

The militant Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. It released a video that showed eight men, all but one with their faces covered, standing under a black Islamic State flag and declaring their loyalty to its leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. The government said there were nine suicide bombers, eight of whom had been identified. One was a woman.

Authorities have focused their investigations on international links to two domestic militant groups – National Thawheed Jama’ut and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim – they believe carried out the attacks.

Death toll

Sri Lanka revises death toll from attacks down by 100

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan officials revised the death toll from Easter Sunday bombings down by about 100, blaming the difficulty in identifying body parts at bomb scenes for the earlier inaccurate number.

The new official figure was 253, down from an earlier 359, Deputy Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said. He blamed inaccurate data provided by morgues for the discrepancy.

Anil Jasinghe, the director general of Sri Lanka’s health services, told Reuters any figure was an estimate: “It could be 250 or 260. I can’t exactly say. There are so many body parts and it is difficult to give a precise figure.”