Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena today using emergency legislation to ban the Islamist extremist groups accused of being responsible for the Easter Sunday blasts. 

In a statement the president's media division said National Thawheed Jammath (NTJ) and Jamathei Millathu Ibraheem (JMI) had been banned. 

Sri Lankan police are actively investigating if Islamist groups responsible for the Easter Sunday suicide attacks are also responsible for the killing of two officers in Batticaloa last year, after a missing police rifle was found in a raid yesterday. 

Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena blamed the UN inquiry into war crimes during the armed conflict for the suicide bomb attacks by Islamist extremists on Easter Sunday. 

Valikaamam East Divisional Secretariat passed a motion this week condemning the Easter Sunday blasts, which killed over 250 people. 

Sri Lanka’s former defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was at the helm when state forces killed tens of thousands of Tamils, announced this week that he would run for presidency in upcoming elections.

A vigil led by British Tamils was held at St Paul’s Cathedral Churchyard, London on Friday, in tribute to the victims who lost their lives in a series of coordinated attacks on Easter Sunday.

 

<p>A top Sri Lanka military source indicated that the main mastermind behind the attacks, Hashim Mohamed Zahran, spent “substantial” &nbsp;time in “South India, reports <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/sri-lanka-easter-blasts-sus…">The Hindu.</a></p>

The leader of the right ring Buddhist monk party, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), Champika Ranawaka on Friday put forward a 10 point proposal of hardline changes purported to defeat Islamic radicalization following the Easter Sunday blasts. 

The US State Department has raised its Sri Lanka travel advisory to Level 3, urging citizens to reconsider travel due to terrorism.

The advisory stated:

“On April 26, 2019, the Department of State ordered the departure of all school-age family members of U.S. government employees in Kindergarten through 12^th grade.  The Department also authorized the voluntary departure of non-emergency U.S. government employees and family members.

Earlier this month Hindu and Christian religious leaders had united to call for all Tamils to come together to commemorate ten years since the Mullivaikkal genocide.

At a press meet on April 10, community leaders involved in organising Mullivaikkal remembrance activities, said:

^{Photograph: The aftermath of a gunbattle that left several people dead in Amparai last night.}

At least 15 people, including 6 children, are confirmed to be amongst those killed as the Sri Lankan military engaged in a firefight with suspects linked to the Easter Sunday attacks in Amparai yesterday.

The Sri Lankan army confirmed the casualties, as well as a raid on a nearby building, which found stocks of explosives, ball bearings, a drone and a flag bearing the Islamic State logo. 

<p>Fitch Ratings agency said warned that the Easter terror attacks would pose additional external financing risks and undermine tourism earnings.&nbsp;</p> <p>In a statement released following the aftermath of the attacks, Fitch said,</p> <p>"Heightened external financing risks are a factor in the low ratings of Sri Lanka (B), which was downgraded in December 2018 and is seeking to stabilise its external finances with IMF assistance,."</p>

Sri Lankan police were forced into making a retraction earlier today, after it emerged they had falsely identified an American university student as a suspect wanted in the Easter Sunday bombing attacks.

Earlier the Sri Lankan police released images of purported suspects, including a photograph of a woman they claimed was “Abdul Cater Fathima Khadhiya”.

It quickly emerged that the woman in question was Amara Majeed, a Baltimore local who is a student at Brown University.