Sri Lanka secret services knew about possible terrorist attacks in advance

The secret services of Sri Lanka knew in advance about possible terrorist acts, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka and Chief of Staff of the President Hemasiri Fernando said, Report informs citing Interfax.

"We never expected it to be so big. We never thought it would happen so soon," Fernando told NBC News.

Sri Lankan authorities were warned about a terrorist plot two weeks before a series of Easter Sunday blasts.

Rajitha Senaratne, the country's health minister and a spokesman for its Cabinet, said international intelligence agencies had informed Sri Lankan counterparts on April 4 that churches and tourist destinations were being targeted. Five days later, police were given the names of suspects behind the plot.

According to the latest data, the number of people killed in the blasts reached 290 people, 500 were injured.