The toll of the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka largely downgraded

The death toll of the attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Sunday 21, which the Islamic State (IS) group claimed, has been lowered to 253 dead

The Sri Lankan authorities sharply revised downwards on Thursday April 25 the toll of the Easter attacks  : 253 people perished and not 359 as previously indicated, bodies having been counted several times.

In these attacks claimed by the Islamic State (IS) organization, suicide bombers hit three luxury hotels in the capital Colombo on Sunday morning and three Christian churches crowded during Easter mass.

Victims counted several times

Medical staff completed all autopsies on Thursday evening and concluded that some of the victims’ bodies had been counted multiple times, the health ministry said in a statement. “Many victims were terribly mutilated […]. Some were counted twice, ” he explained.

The authorities did not say how this new toll was distributed. Previously, the Foreign Ministry had reported 40 foreigners killed.

Of the 485 people who were hospitalized with injuries, 149 remained in hospital Thursday evening, according to the ministry. Sunday’s attacks remain in any case the worst that this South Asian island with 21 million inhabitants has known since the end of the civil war ten years ago.

75 arrests since Sunday

As the UK has advised against travel to the Indian Ocean island and Israel has called on its nationals to leave it due to a “high concrete threat” , Sri Lanka continues its gigantic hunt for suspects .

Sixteen new arrests were made overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, bringing the total number of people arrested to nearly 75 since Sunday. In the late afternoon, police released the photos and names of three young men and three young women wanted by authorities.

The controversy rumbles on the inability of the authorities to prevent these suicide attacks upstream, when they had crucial information. In this context, the highest official of the Ministry of Defense resigned Thursday, saying “accept the responsibility” of this failure, reported to AFP a ministerial source.

Fear of reprisals

Sri Lanka’s Catholic churches will keep their doors closed until the security situation improves. “There will be no public mass until further notice,” announced a local Church official. Funerals of victims may be held during private ceremonies.

The government has called on the country’s Muslim minority not to hold Friday prayers in mosques as a sign of solidarity. Police fear that Muslim places of worship could be the target of reprisals.

Hundreds of Ahmadi Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Iran have taken shelter in mosques and a police station out of fear for their safety. Some of them were evicted from their homes because their owners feared attacks by groups seeking revenge.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack

Authorities attribute the attacks to the local extremist group National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) and have not officially confirmed ISIS involvement. ISIS jihadists claimed responsibility for the massacre by posting a video of eight men pledging allegiance to their “caliph,” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The Sri Lankan army has deployed thousands of additional troops to support the police in their hunt. “We are armed with the power to search, confiscate, arrest and detain thanks to the legislation of the state of emergency” , in place since midnight Monday, said a brigadier general.

For his part, President Maithripala Sirisena announced that he would re-establish a military structure, which existed at the height of the civil war between Tamil separatists and the Sinhalese majority, to coordinate security operations.

Security failure

Colombo, who received assistance from an FBI team for the investigation of the carnage, admitted a state “failure” in terms of security, the authorities having failed to prevent this bloodshed then that they had very precise information.

An alert written on April 11 by the police chief, warning that the NTJ was preparing attacks, was not communicated to the Prime Minister and high-ranking ministers.

On several occasions in recent times, India has warned Sri Lanka of the risk of suicide bombings, a source familiar with the matter told AFP on Thursday. New Delhi had acquired “threatening” content , including videos, during arrests in the south of the country of people suspected of links to ISIS.

Tourism at half mast

“The videos showed a radical leader in Sri Lanka making threatening comments indicating that suicide attacks were possible,” said the source, who requested anonymity. According to the Indian press, the man in the images is Zahran Hashim, the head of the NTJ, whose fate is unknown to this day.

Sri Lanka has also suspended a tourist visa waiver project aimed at boosting attendance in low season. The attacks could deter many travelers from visiting this island popular for its idyllic beaches and lush greenery, which had a record year in 2018 with 2.33 million tourists.