News
GTI says Sri Lanka among countries with lowest terrorist threat
PNM highlights triumph over terrorism
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Top National Patriotic Movement (PNM) spokesman Dr. Wasantha Bandara yesterday (11) said that the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2025 recently categorized Sri Lanka as a country with the lowest terrorist threat.
The 12th annual GTI report, released in London on Wednesday (05 March) ranked Sri Lanka 100th among 163 countries considered in the GTI. Dr. Bandara pointed out that with a GTI score of zero, Sri Lanka, once wrecked by separatist terrorism shared the lowest spot on the GTI with 63 other countries.
Pointing out that Sri Lanka also shared the lowest terror threat ranking in the South Asian region with Bhutan, Dr. Bandara said that the armed forces and police paid a huge price to restore normalcy in the country.
Responding to The Island query, Dr. Bnadara said that combined forces brought the war against the LTTE to a successful conclusion in May 2009 though the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) launched GTI a couple of years later.
The GTI report is produced based on data from TerrorismTracker and other sources. TerrorismTracker provides records on terrorist attacks since 1 January 2007. The dataset contains over 73,000 terrorist incidents for the period 2007 to 2024.
Dr. Bandara said that some of the fiercest fighting and high profile terrorist attacks took place after the launch of IEP’s GTI, 12 years ago.
According to him, since the eradication of the LTTE, 17 years ago, the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage was the only terrorist attack blamed on the National Thowheed Jaamat (NTJ) and as far as terrorism was concerned Sri Lanka could be happy. However, the National People’s Power (NPP) government shouldn’t resort to political strategies that may undermine national security, Dr. Bandara said, underscoring the responsibility on the part of the AKD administration to defend the war-winning armed forces at the UNHRC.
Dr. Bandara said that though the situation improved here, according to GTI the number of countries recording a terrorist attack increased from 58 to 66. The West that has been openly encouraging terrorism in other regions suffered due to terrorism, the civil society activist said.
According to GTI, terrorist attacks jumped by 63% in the West, and Europe was the most affected where attacks doubled to 67. In 2024, several Western countries reported one in five terror suspects as under 18, with teenagers accounting for most IS-linked arrests in Europe.
The PNM spokesman pointed out that seven Western countries were in the first 50 most impacted countries on the GTI.
According to the GTI, Islamic State (IS) remains the deadliest organisation, causing 1,805 deaths across 22 countries in 2024.
Referring to last year’s warning of foreign terrorist attacks in the East, Dr. Bandara said that Sri Lanka should never lower its guard. For want of cohesive strategy and internal squabbling, the Yahapalana government couldn’t thwart the Easter Sunday attacks, though specific intelligence was available of the imminent multiple suicide attacks, Dr. Bandara said.
The PNM spokesman said that regardless of GTI reports some countries continued to depict Sri Lanka as a country prone to terrorist attacks. Dr. Bandara said that the latest GTI report should be part of Sri Lanka’s defence as various interested parties continued war crimes allegations.
During an operation conducted in the dark hours of 01 Jan 26, the Sri Lanka Navy seized an Indian fishing boat and apprehended 11 Indian fishermen while they were poaching in Sri Lankan waters, off Kovilan of Kareinagar, Jaffna.
The Northern Naval Command spotted a group of Indian fishing boats engaging in illegal fishing, trespassing into Sri Lankan waters. In response, naval craft of the Northern Naval Command were deployed to drive away those Indian fishing boats from island waters off Kovilan.
Meanwhile, compliant boarding made by naval personnel resulted in the seizure of one Indian fishing boat and apprehension of 11 Indian fishermen who continued to engage in illegal fishing in Sri Lankan waters.
The seized boat (01) and Indian fishermen (11) were handed over to the Fisheries Inspector of Myliddy, Jaffna for onward legal proceedings.
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Tri-Forces donate LKR. 372 million, a day’s pay of all ranks to ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund
Members of all ranks from the Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Air Force have collectively donated a day’s basic salary to the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund, which was established to restore livelihoods and rebuild the country following the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Accordingly, the total contribution made by the Tri-Forces amounts to LKR. 372,776,918.28.
The cheques representing the financial contributions were handed over on Wednesday (31 December) at the Presidential Secretariat to the Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.
The donations comprised LKR. 250 million from the Commander of the Army, Major General Lasantha Rodrigo; LKR. 73,963,879.71 from the Commander of the Navy, Rear Admiral Kanchana Banagoda and LKR. 48,813,038.97 from the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Vasu Bandu Edirisinghe.
Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha, was also present on the occasion.
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has submitted a proposal to the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) seeking an 11.57 percent increase in electricity tariffs for the first quarter of 2026, citing an estimated revenue shortfall and additional financial pressures, including cyclone-related damages.
According to documents issued by the PUCSL, the proposed tariff revision would apply to electricity consumption from January to March 2026 and includes changes to both energy charges and fixed monthly charges across all consumer categories, including domestic, religious, industrial, commercial and other users.
Under the proposal, domestic electricity consumers would face increases in unit rates as well as fixed monthly charges across all consumption blocks.
The CEB has estimated a deficit of Rs. 13,094 million for the first quarter of 2026, which it says necessitates the proposed 11.57 per cent tariff hike. The utility has noted that any deviation from this estimate whether a surplus or a shortfall will be adjusted through the Bulk Supply Tariff Adjustment (BSTA) mechanism and taken into account in the next tariff revision.
In its submission, the CEB said the proposed revision is aimed at ensuring the financial and operational stability of the power sector and mitigating potential risks to the reliability of electricity supply. The board-approved tariff structure for the first quarter of 2026 has been submitted to the PUCSL for approval and subsequent implementation, as outlined in Annex II of the proposal.
The CEB has also highlighted the financial impact of Cyclone Ditwah, which it said caused extensive damage to electricity infrastructure, with total losses estimated at around Rs. 20 billion. Of this amount, Rs. 7,016.52 million has been attributed to the first quarter of 2026, which the utility said has a direct bearing on electricity tariffs.
The CEB warned that if external funding is not secured to cover the cyclone-related expenditure, the costs incurred would need to be recovered through electricity tariffs in the second-quarter revision of 2026.
Meanwhile, the PUCSL has said that a decision on whether to approve the proposed tariff increase will be made only after following due regulatory procedures and holding discussions on the matter.
By Sujeewa Thathsara ✍️
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