Sri Lanka bans burqa and veils for ‘national security’ after Easter attacks

SRI LANKA has announced a ban on face coverings, including veils and burqas, in the wake of the Easter suicide bombings that killed 253 people.

Maithripala Sirisena, the president, used emergency powers yesterday to ban any form of face covering in public.

The new decree means Muslim women in Sri Lanka will no longer be able to wear veils covering their faces. The restriction will take effect from today, the president’s office said in a statement last night.

It read: “The ban is to ensure national security ... no one should obscure their faces to make identification difficult.”

The powers prevent the wearing of the niqab, which covers all but the eyes, and the burqa, which includes a veil across the eyes. But women will be able to wear the chador and the hijab, which leave the face exposed but cover the hair and neck.

The father and two brothers of the mastermind behind the attack promised more destruction would follow in a chilling video just before they killed themselves on Friday.

The trio blew themselves up just as police raided their house in Sainthamaruthu, eastern Sri Lanka, leaving 15 people dead, including six children. “The disbelieving dogs have closed in on us. We pledge to teach a lesson to all those who are trying to destroy us,” says one of the brothers in the video, Rilwan Hashim, wearing a belt with explosives around his stomach.

A battle-scarred man who is blind in one eye with the fingers of his right hand missing bears close resemblance to Mohamed Zahran Hashim, believed to be the leader of the terror cell. Zainee Hashim, the younger brother of suspected ring-leader Zahran, says his final words to the camera, holding an AK47 rifle in one hand, with a small child, identified as his son, on his lap: “The killings won’t stop here.”

The terrorist duo’s father, Mohamed Hashim, calls the video “the final call”. A woman and a child who survived but were in a critical condition, were identified as the wife and child of Zahran.

Isil said its three of its fighters had drawn the military to the house before detonating their explosives.