2019 Easter bombings: Sri Lanka says ex-spy chief ‘directed’ attack killed 279

Sri Lanka’s public security minister has directly accused the country’s former intelligence chief of orchestrating the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, marking the first official statement linking a senior state official to one of the deadliest attacks in the island’s history.

Addressing parliament on Wednesday, Ananda Wijepala said investigations had found that retired Major General Suresh Sallay “conspired with and strategically directed” Islamic extremists before they carried out the attacks that killed 279 people.

Wijepala claimed Sallay had identified a Catholic church as a target and met members of the extremist network just weeks before the bombings. Sallay, who was arrested in February on allegations of aiding and abetting the attacks, has denied any involvement through his lawyer.

The minister’s remarks come years after allegations first surfaced in a 2023 report by British broadcaster, which cited whistleblower testimony claiming elements within Sri Lanka’s intelligence apparatus allowed the attacks to proceed to influence the 2019 presidential election. Investigators have also secured a court order preventing former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa from leaving the country, and he is expected to be questioned as part of the ongoing probe.

What was the Easter Sunday attack?

On April 21, 2019, a group of Sri Lankan extremists inspired by the Islamic State carried out six near-simultaneous suicide bombings targeting three churches and three luxury hotels. The attacks struck two Catholic churches, a Protestant church and high-end hotels in and around Colombo during Easter celebrations.

The coordinated blasts killed 279 people, including dozens of foreign nationals, and wounded hundreds more. The attack remains Sri Lanka’s deadliest act of terrorism since the end of the country’s civil war.


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