The Sri Lanka president Maithripala Sirisena has said police are looking for 140 people believe to have links to Isis over the Easter Sunday attacks that killed at least 253 people. Sirisena said some youths had been involved with the extremist group since 2013.
At least 700 refugees from a mistreated Islamic sect are in hiding after fleeing their homes in Negombo as tensions rise in the aftermath of the bombings.
The bombings that killed around 253 people has destroyed the calm that has existed in Sri Lanka since the civil war against mostly Hindu, ethnic Tamil separatists ended 10 years ago, and have fears of a return to sectarian violence.
A group of 500 Muslims are being sheltered in one city and there is a significant police presence outside their location plus dozens of locals protesting for the group to be removed from the area. Police have said the refugees are required to stay another few days before they could safely move on. The group belong to the Ahmadi community which is a minority sect of Islam who are victimised in Pakistan and legally banned from entering the religions holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Ahmadis believe in another Islamic prophet, Ahmad, which appeared in the 19th century. This is the view at odds with the fundamental Islamic principle that Muhammed was the final messenger sent by God. Pakistan changed its constitution in 1974 to declare Ahmadis non-Muslims.
Ruki Fernando, a Sri Lankan activist said: “We’ve seen a few attacks on houses, some refugees were beaten and some stones were thrown as well so people were scared to stay in their houses,”
Babar Baloch, a UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesman, said they had received word from refugees that they “have been the targets of threats and intimidation,”. Some of the 1,600 refugees and Asylum Seekers are registered with UNHCR in Sri Lanka.
Baloch said: “UNHCR is working closely with local and national authorities who have been very supportive and helpful to ensure the security and safety of all refugees and asylum-seekers during this time of heightened anxiety and concern,”
Sri Lanka’s Muslim Council said that Islamic community leaders had agreed that bodies of the terrorists would not be buried in an mosque burial ground.
Hilmy Ahmed, a top official at the council, an umbrella organisation of Muslim civil society groups said: “The Muslim community is so angry about this that they want to disown [the bombers],”. “Their bodies will eventually be released — whatever is left of their bodies. [We] will not entertain the burial of them in the mosque.”
More people, including foreigners, were taken for questioning overnight as domestic and international authorities investigated the Easter bombings. Police have said an Egyptian and several Pakistanis were among those detained. Police said on Thursday a further 16 people were detained for questioning overnight, making the number held since Sunday to at least 76. A police statement said one of those detained overnight was linked to a terrorist organisation but gave no other details.
