Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that Pakistan has fully supported their ‘war on terror’ and if necessary, they will seek their help to trace the terrorists.
In an interview with the Hindustan Times, Wickremesinghe when asked that there are unconfirmed reports that at least one of Sunday’s suicide bombers received some training at a terror camp in Pakistan, 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. I see this tragic event as further strengthening the trust that exists between our countries and increasing cooperation.”
While talking about Sri Lanka’s Muslim community, he said that they have been ‘patient despite provocations.’ Wickremesinghe added that, the leaders of the Muslim community should be commended for maintaining inter-religious harmony.
“The Muslim community was under pressure from 2012 to 2014. Since 2015, there has been a marked improvement. Anti-Muslim sentiment was not allowed to raise its head. There was only one unfortunate incident in Kandy, which was brought under control. They have been patient in the face of these provocations, and I must commend their political leaders for maintaining inter-religious harmony. But again, the wave of anti-Muslim sentiment spreading across the liberal world and our region, has had some impact on Sri Lanka as well. We must provide constitutional guarantees to every community to coexist within one Sri Lanka,” he said.
Earlier, in an interview with the Sky news, he said they were aware the Lankan nationals who had joined the ISIS had returned however, they couldn’t be arrested as joining a foreign terrorist organization ‘is not against the law’.
In the aftermath of the Sri Lanka bombings, Muslim refugees have fled from the coastal city of Negombo where communal tensions have flared in recent days.
On Wednesday, hundreds of Pakistani Muslims fled the multi-ethnic port an hour north of the capital, Colombo. Crammed into buses organised by community leaders and police, they left fearing for their safety after threats of revenge from locals, reported the Reuters.
Recently, The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the bombings.
The video, purportedly from Al Ghuraba Media, which is not an official IS channel but is believed to be run by supporters of IS, featured the chilling message, “This bloody day is our reward to you.”
Earlier, the Deputy Defence Minister of Sri Lanka had said that the attacks were carried out ‘in retaliation of Christchurch’.
“The preliminary investigations have revealed that what happened in Sri Lanka (on Sunday) was in retaliation for the attack against Muslims in Christchurch,” Wijewardene told parliament.
50 people were killed in New Zealand’s Christchurch in a attack on two mosques recently.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Sri Lanka has risen to 310 and more than 40 people have been arrested. on April 22, Sri Lanka’s Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said the bombings were carried out by a local group identified as the National Thowheed Jamaath, without elaborating on evidence.
