The US embassy in Sri Lanka published a warning to American citizens today (Wednesday) about a credible terrorist threat against tourist sites in the Arugam Bay area.
"The Embassy received credible information warning of an attack targeting popular tourist locations in the Arugam Bay area. Due to the serious risk posed by this threat, the Embassy imposed a travel restriction on Embassy personnel for Arugam Bay effective immediately and until further notice," the embassy's statement reads.
"U.S. citizens are strongly urged to avoid the Arugam Bay area until further notice," it stated.
Sri Lankan police are providing increased security for tourists in light of the threat.
While the embassy's warning did not specify the nature of the targets of this terrorist threat beyond stating that tourist locations were under threat, the warning was issued after a flurry of posts on social media calling for a boycott of Israeli businesses in the area, and anti-Israel protests have drawn local support. Among the sites receiving tighter security are sites frequented by Jews and Israelis.
The British government also published an advisory to its citizens warning of the terrorist threat in the Arugam Bay area.
In addition, the Israeli National Security Council raised the travel warning for Sri Lanka today in light of the terror threat and called on Israelis to leave the area immediately.