ISIS presence:
Sri Lankan intelligence agencies on high alert
by Dhaneshi Yatawara
Sri Lankan intelligence agencies are on high alert on the possibility
of local groups having links with the extremist group Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria (ISIS), following the recent attack in Jakarta, Indonesia
perpetrated by Daesh also known as ISIS.
The Government recently announced that nearly 36 Sri Lankans have
joined the ISIS movement so far, following which the security agencies
were on full alert.
In response to queries about the presence of ISIS terrorists or links
to sympathiser groups in Sri Lanka, Military Spokesman Brigadier
Jayanath Jayaweera said that the situation is no way a cause for panic
or alarm. “Yet divulging vital and sensitive information could be
counterproductive to the intelligence network established in the country
and could jeorpadise identifying the elements,” Brigadier Jayaweera
added.
In July, 2015, a 37-year-old Sri Lankan was reported killed in an air
strike in Syria. A Sri Lankan was mentioned as a sympathiser in a
another cases of ISIS recruits, when a teenage girl was indoctrinated by
an alleged ISIS operative. Experts on terrorism emphasise based on their
observations, at least two Sri Lankans have joined the ISIS. |