Sri Lanka's defence secretary quits following suicide bomb attacks

The site of a mass burial in Negombo, for victims of a string of suicide bomb attacks across Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando resigned on April 25, 2019, taking responsibility for the attacks. PHOTO: REUTERS

COLOMBO (REUTERS) - Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando told Reuters on Thursday (April 25) that he had resigned, taking responsibility for the suicide bomber attacks on the country last Sunday.

He said that while there had been no failure on his own part, he was taking responsibility for failures of some institutions he headed as the secretary of defence.

He said that security agencies were actively responding to intelligence they had about the possibility of attacks before they were launched.

"We were working on that. All those agencies were working on that," he said.

The Easter Sunday bombings on churches and luxury hotels killed at least 359 people and wounded about 500.

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