New Zealand’s foreign minister has slammed the Sri Lankan government’s early attempts to paint the Easter Sunday terror attacks in Colombo and Batticaloa as reprisals for the massacre of 50 Muslims by a white supremacist in Auckland earlier this year.

“It’s a slightly cheap shot, I suppose, to try to explain it away. Let’s see the evidence,” foreign minister Winston Peters told Sky News.

More vigils have been held by Tamils across the island for the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks in Batticaloa and Colombo.

The former UN Special Rapporteur for counter terrorism, Ben Emmerson, slammed the Sri Lankan government's counter-terrorism strategy in the wake of the Easter Sunday bombings. 

Sri Lankan police said ammunition was found at a raid on Dawood Restaurant in Kanakarayankulam, Vavuniya yesterday. 

The Sri Lankan government is discussing appointing the former army chief, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka as the head of the law and order ministry, the UNP chairman, Kabir Hashim told journalists yesterday. 

Sri Lanka’s cabinet spokesperson said that at least four army officers were involved in organising the assassination of police officers in Batticaloa last year, and claimed dozens of National Thawheed Jammath members (NTJ) were on the payroll of Sri Lankan intelligence linked to Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Alaina Teplitz, the US ambassador to Sri Lanka, said that some militants involved in the Easter Sunday attacks may be at large and could be plotting fresh attacks.

“Tremendous progress has been made towards apprehending those plotters but I don’t think the story is over yet,” Teplitz said in an interview with Reuters.

“We do believe that there is active planning under way.”

Sri Lankan security forces are continuing a high level of alert amid intelligence reports that the militants were likely to strike before the start of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan which is scheduled to begin on May 6.

The Sri Lankan government announced that it has lifted the ban on social media, however emergency regulations remain in place across the island.

Reuters reports that the ban on platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Viber “has been lifted with immediate effect”. 

<p>Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a statement calling on the government to protect refugees and asylum seekers whilst ensuring basic rights are safeguarded.</p> <p>This statement follows local attacks on Muslim minorities in retaliation for the Easter Sunday bombings which killed over 250 people.&nbsp;</p> <p>The report states that nearly a thousand refugees and asylum seekers were displaced from their homes as landlords came under pressure to evict them. They have since sought shelter in nearby mosques or at the police station in Negombo.</p>

Sri Lankan police reportedly found two rifle bullets and a camouflaged holster following a raid on a mosque in Jaffna, as the security forces continue to carry out raids across the North-East.  

The ammunition was found along with firecrackers at the Mankumpan Mosque, in Thevagam, Jaffna in a raid on Monday.

One person has reportedly been taken into police custody.