• 20-member team in Sri Lanka to assist investigations and forensic tests
  
   

The Australian Government is providing support in carrying out investigations on the Easter Sunday terror attacks on 21 April which killed over 250 people. 

Visiting Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton yesterday said that his country had provided assistance to Sri Lanka, sending a team of over 20 members to assist Sri Lankan Intelligence teams investigating into Easter Sunday terror attacks apart from those already on the ground.  The Minister noted that the team had been providing assistance in investigations “particularly in capacity on the forensic side that we can bring to the table”. 

“Very quickly we offered support to the Sri Lankan Government to work very closely, particularly through the Australian Federal Police, but also through our agencies otherwise coordinated by the High Commissioner here in Sri Lanka,” he said. 

The Minister also emphasised that there was a ready exchange of information between the two countries, including information in this regard as well. 

“There is a ready exchange of information where it’s appropriate to do so, whether it’s in relation to returning foreign fighters, whether it might be information in relation to the illegal movement of people, or might relate to the movement of illicit drugs or tobacco, for example. There are many areas in which we can work together and exchange information from Australia’s perspective. We do have a concern about material on returning foreign fighters from Syria and Iraq,” he said.

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