Undue fear on national security not required, Defence Secretary assures

Undue fear regarding national security based on false propaganda is not required due to the travel restrictions imposed by the U.S. State Department says Defence Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne (Retd).

Issuing a special statement, the Defence Secretary stated there is no base on the false propaganda disseminated with regard to likely terrorist activities on the island and the general public should not be panic about security. 

He further emphasized that the Ministry of Defence, the Armed Forces, and other law enforcing agencies have well-established national security.

He added that the travel restrictions have been imposed by the U.S. State Department under Level 04 Category with the inclusion of terrorist threats, which is a common occurrence according to their classification. 

The Defence Secretary, therefore, informed that there is no need to create undue fear on national security.

Meanwhile, the United States Embassy in Colombo tweeted that the U.S. State Department had updated its travel advisory for Sri Lanka from Level 3 (reconsider travel) to Level 4 (do not travel) solely due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the island nation.

There has been no change to the terrorist threat level, the Embassy said.

.@StateDept has updated the Travel Advisory for #SriLanka from Level 3 (reconsider travel) to Level 4 (do not travel) solely due to prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country. There is no change to the terrorist threat level.

— U.S. Embassy Colombo (@USEmbSL) May 25, 2021