(COLOMBO) – An estimated 10,000 armed policemen were deployed at Mosques throughout Sri Lanka on Thursday as the Muslim faithful celebrated the dawn of Ramadan.
The island’s Police Chief Deshabandu Tennakoon stressed the need for heightened security measures during the Ramadan period and the forthcoming Sinhala and Hindu New Year celebrations that begins on Friday.
Speaking at an event at the Minister’s Security Division, Tennakoon highlighted the global threat of extremist terrorist attacks stressing the importance of focusing on VIP and national security.
“Extremist and terrorist attacks occur worldwide often unexpectedly. This underscores the necessity of vigilance, he said.
He also cautioned that there are certain persons who are attempting to cause political, religious and cultural hate in order to incite public unrest.