Sri Lankan Former Minister rejects Pakistan High commissioner claims about Easter Sunday attacks

In Sri Lanka, a former Minister has said they were unaware of warning from Pakistan prior to the Easter Sunday attacks as claimed by Pakistan High Commissioner.

Ruwan Wijewardena, who was State Minister of Defence at the time of attacks said that he was not aware of such a warning received from Pakistan and that the only warning they received was from India.

His comments came as Pakistan High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Major General (Retd.) Muhammad Saad Khattak told a private television station last week that Pakistan had warned Sri Lanka of a plot to launch attacks months before Easter Sunday. He said that the information was based on intelligence intercepts but no follow up action was taken by the Sri Lankan Government at the time.

Over 270 individuals were killed and over 500 injured in multiple bombings targeting hotels and churches across Sri Lanka on 21 April last year.

Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the attacks which was carried out by a local Islamic group.

Sri Lankan Government had accepted that Indian agencies had shared specific inputs about the attacks which were not acted upon.