Sri Lanka arrests three after US warning of possible attacks against Israelis
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Israelis accounted for less than 1.5 per cent of the 1.5 million tourists who visited the island in the first nine months of 2024.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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COLOMBO - Sri Lankan police arrested three men following a US intelligence warning of possible attacks against Israeli tourists
“We are questioning three local men,” Mr Vijitha Herath told reporters in Colombo. “We are taking the US warning seriously and have increased security.”
Mr Herath said the men were arrested in connection with an alleged plot to target a Jewish community centre in the island’s east.
Sri Lanka has deployed troops in the surfing resort of Arugam Bay after the US embassy warned of a possible attack, as well as at other popular tourist locations, added Mr Herath, who is also the Public Security Minister.
Israelis accounted for less than 1.5 per cent, or around 20,000, of the 1.5 million tourists who visited the island in the first nine months of 2024.
Police, who had set up a hotline for Israelis, said about 570 Israeli citizens were currently in the country.
Arugam Bay, around 400km east of Colombo by road, is a popular destination.
The US warning followed social media posts calling for a boycott of Israeli-owned businesses.
Police had said a Jewish community centre in Arugam Bay had provoked anger among the region’s Muslim-majority population.
There had also been protests by local Muslim groups against Israel’s conflict with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand shared the US warning on their websites, while the Russian embassy advised its nationals to avoid crowded places while visiting Sri Lanka.
There have been no attacks in Sri Lanka since the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings
The coordinated attack against three luxury hotels and three churches was blamed on a local jihadist group that pledged allegiance to the ISIS terror group.
The country’s 2022 economic meltdown, which precipitated widespread civil unrest
