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Curfew lifted in eastern Sri Lanka

A curfew was first imposed in Sri Lanka on April 21 following a series of terrorist attacks

© AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena

MOSCOW, April 29. /TASS/. Sri Lanka’s authorities have lifted a curfew imposed in the cities of Sammanthurai, Kalmunai and Chawalakade following a series of terrorist attacks, the Ada Derana news portal reported on Monday, citing police sources.

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The curfew was lifted on Monday at 08:00 local time (02:30 GMT).

A curfew was first imposed in Sri Lanka on April 21 and was extended several times.

On April 21, a series of terrorist attacks, unprecedented in the country’s history, took place in Sri Lanka. A total of eight explosions occurred in high-end hotels and churches in the cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa during Easter services. The country’s authorities confirmed that the explosions had been carried out by suicide bombers who were Sri Lankan nationals. According to recent information, the attacks claimed about 250 lives though 359 deaths had been reported initially.

On Sunday, Sri Lanka’s police carried out an operation in the town of Kattankudy against the Jamaat al-Tawhid al-Watania group whose members are suspected of organizing the April 21 attacks. On Saturday, the country’s president outlawed Jamaat al-Tawhid al-Watania and the Jamiatu al-Millatu Ibrahim group that the country’s authorities consider to be involved in the explosions.

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Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in an interview with the British Financial Times newspaper that the blasts could have been prevented. "Sri Lanka’s intelligence services had been tracking the activities of the Islamist group but were not aware it had moved from ‘extremism to terrorism,’ he noted, as cited by the paper.

"I have seen detailed instructions [from the ministry of defense] but why was it that there was inadequate follow-up and why was it that people didn’t get into positions throughout the country?" Wickremesinghe said.

According to Sri Lanka’s prime minister, some of those involved in the attacks "were people you wouldn’t think will engage in terrorism - from upper middle class, business men, professionals - who have not been to Syria, they have only been to the West or to Australia."

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