The UK Foreign Office changed on Thursday its travel advice to Sri Lanka and calls on UK citizens to refrain from non-essential trips to the south Asian country following recent deadly terror attacks on churches and hotels
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2019) The UK Foreign Office changed on Thursday its travel advice to Sri Lanka and calls on UK citizens to refrain from non-essential trips to the south Asian country following recent deadly terror attacks on churches and hotels."The Foreign Office has changed its travel advice to Sri Lanka to advise against all but essential travel, in light of the ongoing security operation and heightened risk of terrorism in Sri Lanka following the attacks on Easter Sunday," the Foreign Office said in a statement.
UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt vowed to monitor the situation and keep the decision under constant review.
"We will keep this decision under close and constant review. My first priority will always be the security of British citizens living and travelling abroad," he stressed.
The foreign secretary expressed a hope that the situation in Sri Lanka would normalize soon.
"We all hope the situation will return to normal very soon, and that the Sri Lankan tourism industry is able to get back on its feet following the terrorist attacks. We will do all we can to help the Sri Lankan authorities," Hunt added.
On Easter Sunday, Sri Lanka was shaken by a series of coordinated attacks that left 359 people dead and over 500 injured nationwide. These attacks, which targeted churches and luxury hotels, were the worst the country has faced since the end of its 25-year-old civil war in 2009. The Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka launched a criminal investigation immediately after the attacks, having already arrested over 100 suspects.
