CNN —
Both the United States and Israel issued alerts on Wednesday warning of possible attacks on tourist sites along Sri Lanka’s coast.
A US embassy alert said it had “received credible information warning of an attack targeting a popular tourist destination in the Arugam Bay area.”
“Due to the serious risk posed by this threat, the embassy has imposed travel restrictions on embassy personnel to Arugam Bay, effective immediately and in effect until further notice,” the report said, adding that the U.S. “The public is strongly urged to continue to avoid the Arugam Bay area,” he said. News. ”
Israel’s warning from the National Security Council calls on Israeli citizens to “immediately leave Arugam Bay and the south and west coast areas of Sri Lanka.” Israel announced it had raised its travel advisory level to Sri Lanka, citing “credible terrorist threats in tourist areas and coastal areas.”
“The travel alert for the Arugam Bay and southern and western coastal areas of Sri Lanka (including the cities of Ahangame, Galle, Hikkaduwa and Weligama) has been raised to Level 4,” it said. “We advise you to leave these areas immediately. We advise those currently in these areas to leave the country or at least travel to the capital, Colombo, where local security forces are concentrated. .”
The warning also advises Israeli citizens “to avoid openly displaying anything that identifies them as Israeli, such as T-shirts written in Hebrew or symbols that reveal religion or nationality.” I am doing it.
Neither alert goes into detail about the nature of the potential attack. Sri Lanka, which has a Buddhist majority, has been experiencing protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. However, there have been no major terrorist attacks in the country since the Easter Sunday attacks in 2019. In the attacks, suicide bombers attacked three Catholic churches and three luxury hotels across Sri Lanka, killing 270 people and injuring more than 500.
