New Delhi (Sputnik): Days after churches and hotels in the island nation witnessed coordinated bombings that killed 253 people and injured 500 others, the US government on Tuesday said it is possible that the Sri Lankan attackers could be planning more attacks. Daesh* has claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka.
"We do believe that the terrorist threat is ongoing and there may be active plotters. Active members of the attack group that carried out the terror attacks on Easter Sunday may still be at large", Ambassador Teplitz said.
The United States believes members of the militant group blamed for Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday attacks may be at large and planning more assaults, the U.S. ambassador Alaina Teplitz https://t.co/8TPPHX2Ofk
— Nimala Samarasekera (@NimalSamarasek1) April 30, 2019
The statement comes against the backdrop of unrelenting searches across the country since the 21 April serial bomb blasts that included 40 foreign nationals among the dead.
Police on Monday said that 44 of the suspects currently under arrest over the attack were being interrogated by the CID and 15 were in the custody of the Terrorist Investigations Division.
In the past few days, hundreds of detonators and explosives have been seized by security forces across the island nation.
"We certainly have reason to believe that the active attack group has not been fully rendered inactive. We do believe that there is active planning underway", Teplitz stated.
A vehicle believed to have transported terror suspects and explosives to Sainthamardu was recovered by police on Tuesday while three others along with a lorry have been nabbed in the Sungaviladi area of Sri Lanka's Polonnaruwa district.
READ MORE: Sri Lanka Asks India to Send Anti-Terror Commandos After Easter Blasts — Report
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickeremesinghe stated on Tuesday that his country is ready to join the global fight against the Islamic State (IS).
He noted the statement made by Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a new video warning of attacks around the world.
Wickeremesinghe also said that key information has come to light related to the Easter Sunday bombings carried out by a group allegedly linked to Daesh.
*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia
