Sri Lanka on high alert as police hunt 140 Daesh members

President Maithripala Sirisena says the country's police and security forces are looking for more than 100 individuals with links to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

The country remains on high alert in the aftermath of a string of bombings that claimed the lives of more than 250 people on the Easter Sunday.

Sirisena said Friday that police were looking for no less than 140 Daesh sympathizers, adding some Sri Lankan youths had been involved with the terror group since 2013.

Almost 10,000 soldiers were being deployed across the Southeast Asian country to carry out searches and provide security for religious centers, the military said on Friday.

Sri Lanka and the world were shocked on Easter Sunday after eight apparently coordinated blasts hit churches and luxury hotels in the capital, Colombo, and the cities of Negombo and Batticaloa.

The government, which has blamed a small group known as the Nations Thawahid Jaman (NTJ) for the attacks, has so far detained at least 76 people.

The NTJ has yet to claim responsibility for the bombings. Instead, Daesh has released footage of eight men whom it said had carried out the attacks that five days ago. 

The response of Sri Lanka’s security apparatus to the attacks was quickly questioned after reports stated earlier this week that intelligence officials had been alerted about potential bombings weeks before the attacks on Sunday.

SS