COLOMBO 25 Apr (ANA) - Sri Lanka's president has moved to replace the defence secretary and the national police chief after security forces failed to act on warnings before the Easter suicide bombings.

 

President Maithripala Sirisena's office announced that he requested the resignations of defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando and Inspector General of Police, Pujith Jayasundara. It wasn't immediately clear who would replace them.

 

A Muslim group in Sri Lanka says it alerted security officials about one of the suspects in the Easter Sunday bombings - three years ago.

 

Sri Lanka's Special Task Force in the Katana area successfully defused an explosive device, police sources told Al Jazeera. The region, some 6.7 kilometres from Katuwapitiya, was the scene of one of the Easter Sunday attacks.

 

Police also attempted to defuse a second bomb before it detonated in Pettah, a neighbourhood in Colombo. The device was attached to an unattended motorcycle, according to police.(ANA)

FA/ANA/25 April 2019-------