Sri Lanka’s top defence official resigned on Thursday over security failures that led to the deadly Easter bombings, as Catholic churches suspended all services fearing further attacks.
Sri Lanka’s government has come under increasing pressure over the revelation it failed to act on intelligence about planned attacks, which claimed nearly 360 lives, and Hemasiri Fernando had been widely expected to step down.
A defence ministry official said Fernando had submitted a letter of resignation to head-of-state Maithripala Sirisena.
“He told the president that he was accepting responsibility and resigning so that the president can make a new appointment,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
ndian intelligence shared several specific warnings about attacks with Sri Lankan authorities, an Indian source told AFP, but the information was not given to ministers, in what the government has called a “major” lapse.
Authorities are now in a desperate hunt for suspects linked to the attacks, and police on Thursday released the names and photos of three men and three women they want to question.
