Ahead of the second anniversary of the Easter Sunday bombings, Sri Lanka has banned 11 Muslim terror organisations including Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. A gazette notification said anybody belonging to these organisations faces 20 years in prison.
Seven Sri Lankan nationals had carried out the bombings that killed 279 people. They had sworn loyalty to the Islamic State but investigations did not find any evidence of a link. All seven died in the attack and till date no one else has been arrested. The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has demanded action against officials and politicians, given that India had warned the government of then president Maithripala Sirisena 17 days before the bombers struck.
