Israel removes severe travel warning for Arugam Bay

Israeli authorities eased a travel warning for Sri Lanka on Wednesday, some three weeks after cautioning tourists at a popular beach town of an imminent terrorist threat, The Times of Isreal reported. 

The National Security Council, which publishes travel advisories, said it was lowering the warning level for Sri Lanka’s Arugam Bay area from four, which indicates a highly credible threat, to two, indicating a milder occasional threat.

The high-level threat area had extended across Sri Lanka’s southeastern coast as far as the town of Hikkaduwa.

The rest of the island nation was lowered from level three — moderate — to level two.

The United States, which had also issued a warning for Arugam Bay, rescinded its advisory as well on Wednesday, the embassy in Colombo said.

According to an affidavit filed in US federal court late last week, an Afghani man named Farhad Shakeri, recruited by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told the FBI on October 28 that he and an accomplice had been ordered to plan a mass shooting attack against Israelis at an unnamed location in Arugam Bay, a popular spot for Israeli surfers chasing an endless summer.

Earlier, Israel had advised its nationals in Arugam Bay and nearby areas to leave immediately on October 23, citing the “threat of terrorist attacks against several targets, including popular terrorist locations in Arugam Bay and the south and west coastal areas of Sri Lanka.” (The Times of Israel)