Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka: USA and Israel warn of possible attacks on tourist resorts in the coastal area

CNN
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Both the United States and Israel issued security alerts on Wednesday warning of a possible attack on tourist sites in a coastal area of ​​Sri Lanka.

The US Embassy alert said they had received “credible informational warnings of an attack on popular tourist sites in the Arugam Bay area.”

“Due to the serious risk posed by this threat, the Embassy has imposed a travel restriction on embassy personnel to Arugam Bay effective immediately and until further notice,” it said, noting that U.S. citizens “are strongly encouraged to avoid the Arugam area “To avoid Bay until further notice.”

Israel's National Security Council warning calls on Israeli citizens to “immediately leave Arugam Bay and the southern and western coastal areas of Sri Lanka.” Israel has increased its travel warnings for Sri Lanka due to “credible terrorist threats in the tourist and coastal areas,” it said.

“The travel advisory for Arugam Bay and coastal areas in the south and west of Sri Lanka (including the towns of Ahangame, Galle, Hikkaduwa and Weligama) has been raised to Level 4,” it said. “We recommend leaving these areas immediately. For those currently in these areas, we recommend that they leave the country or at least travel to the capital Colombo, where there is a stronger presence of local security forces.”

The warning also advises Israeli citizens “not to openly display anything that could identify you as Israeli, such as T-shirts with Hebrew inscriptions or other symbols that reveal your religion or nationality.”

None of the warnings elaborate on the nature of the potential attack. There were protests against the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka. However, there have been no major terrorist attacks in the country since the Easter Sunday attack in 2019, when suicide bombers launched a coordinated series of attacks on three Catholic churches and three luxury hotels across Sri Lanka, killing 270 people and wounding 500 others.