Sri Lanka on Wednesday sent troops to the area around a Jewish community center in a popular surfing town and police Patrols have been strengthened.
The increased security and warnings followed social media posts calling for a boycott of Israeli-owned businesses in eastern Arugam Bay.
Police spokesperson Nihal Tardwa said: “We had information that a place called Chabad House, run by Israelis, might be a target, so we took steps to tighten security.”
He said there has been recent tension between Jewish tourists visiting Chabad House and the Bay’s Muslim-majority residents.
He said special forces from the army, navy and police had been deployed to the area to step up patrols and set up barricades.
Wasantha Chandrapala/AP
Protests by local Muslim groups against Israel’s fighting against Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon are drawing support from the wider community in the Buddhist-majority South Asian country.
Israelis accounted for less than 1.5 percent of the 1.5 million tourists who visited the island in the first nine months of this year, or about 20,000 in total.
But Arugham Bay, a surfing hotspot about 400 miles east of Colombo by land, is a popular destination for Israeli tourists.
In an unusual notification of an imminent threat, the US embassy in Colombo announced on Wednesday that it had “received credible intelligence warning of an attack targeting a popular tourist destination” in eastern Arugam Bay.
“Due to the serious risks posed by this threat, the embassy has imposed travel restrictions on embassy personnel to Arugam Bay, effective immediately and until further notice,” the embassy said, adding, “U.S. People are strongly urged to avoid the Bay Area,” he added. ”
Britain and Canada shared the U.S. warning on their respective websites, and the Russian embassy advised its citizens to avoid crowded places when visiting the island.
Meanwhile, Israel’s National Security Council has “raised its travel alert level for Sri Lanka due to credible terrorist threats in tourist areas and coastal areas.”
Israel called on its citizens in Arugam Bay and other southern and western coastal areas to “flee the country or at least to the capital, Colombo, where a large number of local security forces are deployed.” The Level 4 travel alert included Sri Lanka’s cities of Ahangame, Galle, Hikkaduwa and Weligama.
The Israeli National Security Council has raised the travel risk for Alghum Bay and other coastal areas, as well as the rest of Sri Lanka, to Level 3. The National Security Council ranks travel warnings on a scale of 1 to 4, with warnings assigned level 4 indicating danger. Warnings are assigned a “high threat level,” and warnings are assigned a level 3, which indicates a “moderate threat.” Places given the latter ranking mean that Israeli security authorities recommend avoiding unnecessary travel to the destination.
“Furthermore, the NSC emphasizes that Israelis in Sri Lanka should take further precautions,” the travel notice states. Citizens currently residing in Sri Lanka are urged not to openly display anything that could identify them as Israeli, such as T-shirts written in Hebrew or symbols that reveal their religion or nationality. Ta.
Security officials also warned against “gatherings of Israeli citizens in unsecured public places.”
new hotline
There has been no attack in Sri Lanka since the Easter Sunday bombings in 2019, which killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners.
Coordinated attacks on three luxury hotels and three churches have been blamed on a local jihadist group pledging allegiance to Islamic State.
Tourist numbers then plummeted and were further hit during the 2022 economic collapse, which caused widespread civil unrest.
However, the number of foreign tourists is increasing after the economy stabilized following a bailout from the International Monetary Fund last year.
Following a warning from the US embassy, police announced a new security plan to protect tourists across the island.
“Given the war situation in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, the police are working with intelligence agencies on a plan to protect tourists and resorts,” Sri Lankan police said in a statement.
He did not provide details, but said a hotline had been set up for tourists to alert authorities of safety concerns.
