Easter Attack Aftermath: In A Fresh Crackdown, Sri Lanka Detains Nearly 100 Suspects in Anti-Terror Operation

Cracking down on the radical Islamists, the Sri Lankan military has detained close to 100 suspects during the four days of intense search operations against remnants of an Islamist group blamed for the Easter Sunday bombings which killed 258, reports Deccan Herald.

The operation witnessed as many as 3,000 military personnel deployed in and around the capital city of Colombo and other key towns for the cordon and search activities which began on Thursday last week (23 May).

The total number of detainees have now reached close to 100 with 87 suspects having been taken by the security forces in the first three days of the operation itself. The detainees were thereafter handed over to the police forces for further investigations against them.

It should be noted that a few of those detainees had been detained along with video and related radical propaganda material of the local terrorist group, the National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NJT), the group which has been blamed for the Easter Sunday bombings in which Islamic State too has claimed a role.

President Sirisena insisted that the operation was a necessity needed to maintain 'public security' with the country still on the edge since the deadly attacks which rocked the island nation.