St Anthony’s Shrine in Kochchikade, one of the churches targeted in the 2019 Easter bombings.
The former head of Sri Lanka’s State Intelligence Services (SIS) has been arrested on suspicion of colluding with Islamist terrorists in connection with a bombing campaign that killed 279 people on Easter Sunday 2019.
Three churches and three hotels were targeted by the suicide bombs. In addition to those killed, over 500 people were injured in the attacks.
Maj Gen Suresh Sallay was a brigadier in 2019 and as a member of the security forces it was his task to prevent terror attacks. He now stands accused of aiding and abetting the deadliest terror attack in his country’s history.
While not a Muslim himself, it is alleged that Sallay attended meetings with members of an extremist group linked to the attacks where the possibility of fomenting instability ahead of national elections was allegedly discussed, the suggestion being that this would benefit the political career of former Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Rajapaksa announced his candidacy a few days after the bombings, vowing to root out extremism. Following his victory in the elections, Sallay was promoted to head of the SIS.
According to The Telegraph, Sajeewa Medawatte, the senior deputy inspector general of police, said that there would be a “lengthy investigation” into the allegations.
A spokesman for the Catholic Church, Father Cyril Gamini Fernando, told the AFP news agency, “What we need is the truth behind the Easter attacks.”
He added, “We want to see justice for all the victims.”
Some 45 foreign nationals were killed in the attacks, among them Anita Nicholson, a British lawyer, and her two children, Alexander, 14 and Annabel, 11. Other Britons killed were IT director Lorraine Campbell, retired firefighter Bill Harrop and his wife Dr Sally Bradley.
The 2019 attacks represent the deadliest Islamist terror attack ever to take place in Sri Lanka. While many terror attacks have occurred in Sri Lanka’s recent history, they were nearly always the work of the “Tamil Tigers”, who were militarily defeated in 2009 following over a quarter of a century of civil war.
