TERRORISM

Sri Lanka bans drones, looks for bombs 4 days after attack

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Coffins of Easter Sunday bomb blast victims lay at a mass burial ground in Katuwapitiya village in Negombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, April 24, 2019. Sri Lanka's president has asked for the resignations of the defense secretary and national police chief, a dramatic internal shake-up after security forces shrugged off intelligence reports warning of possible attacks before Easter bombings that killed over 350 people, the president's office said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Buddhist monks pray during a ceremony to invoke blessings on the dead and wounded from Sunday's bombings at the Kelaniya temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, April 24, 2019. Sri Lanka's president has asked for the resignations of the defense secretary and national police chief, a dramatic internal shake-up after security forces shrugged off intelligence reports warning of possible attacks before Easter bombings that killed over 350 people, the president's office said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Sri Lanka has banned drones and unmanned aircraft as authorities continue controlled detonations of suspicious items four days after a series of suicide bombing attacks killed more than 350 people in and around the capital of Colombo.

Sri Lanka's civil aviation authority said Thursday that it was taking the measure "in view of the existing security situation in the country."

Hobby drones have been used by militants in the past to carry explosives.

Iraqi forces learned that they are difficult to shoot down while driving out the Islamic State group from northern Iraq, where the extremists loaded drones with grenades or simple explosives to target their forces.

Also Thursday Sri Lankan authorities detonated a suspicious item in a garbage dump in Pugoda, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Colombo.