Sri Lankan President Maitripala Seressna on Wednesday issued directives to senior officials to step down, amid allegations they had not acted and took action under confidential advance information on possible suicide attacks.

A spokesman for the president's office said Defense Minister Himasiri Fernando and police inspector-general Pogith Jayasondara had been asked to resign.

Seressna said officials had not been informed earlier this month about possible suicide attacks, and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesing said that he and his government had not been informed of the intelligence.

Police said on Wednesday that the move came after the death toll from suicide bombings last Sunday during the Easter celebrations after more people died as a result of their injuries, more than 400 people are still in hospital and some are in critical condition.

Suicide bombers carried out a Sunday morning massacre at three churches during the Easter Mass in Colombo, three luxury hotels in the capital and other places in the country of 21 million people. An attempted attack on a fourth hotel failed.

The security services received 15 days ago a memorandum containing information based on the "foreign intelligence agency," warned that the movement "National Tawheed," the local Islamic preparing to carry out attacks, and not informed the Prime Minister and senior ministers.

Arrests
While funerals were held for victims of the attacks, the Sri Lankan authorities on Wednesday continued to pursue the suspects.

Police said another 18 people were arrested after midnight on Wednesday, linked to attacks on churches and luxury hotels, bringing the number of detainees to 60.

Police spokesman Ruan Gunasekara said all 60 people were local residents.

The government attributed the attacks to the Islamic National Unification Group, which did not claim responsibility, while the Islamic State Organization published its calculations on the implementation of the "Telegram" pictures and videos he said were the seven attackers who carried out the attacks, but authorities have not yet confirmed the involvement of the organization in the process.

The deputy defense minister told a news conference on Wednesday that the attacks were orchestrated by a "dissident faction" of the National Tawheed Group, without giving further details.

"The leader of this faction who led the attack is one of the suicide bombers who was killed," he said, explaining that he blew himself up at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo.

Nine suicide bombers
The Sri Lankan government announced today that "nine suicide bombers" died that day. The names of eight of them were identified without detection.

Among the dead were 39 foreigners from India, Britain, Denmark, the United States, China, France, Turkey, Australia, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Bangladesh and Japan.