Sri Lanka bombings were in retaliation for Christchurch mosque shootings, defense official says
By Joanna Slater , Joanna Slater Foreign correspondent covering South Asia Email Bio Follow Amantha Perera and Shibani Mahtani Shibani Mahtani Reporter covering Southeast Asia Email Bio Follow April 23 at 5:00 AM Explosions at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka killed over 300 people and injured more than 500 on Easter Sunday. These are the latest developments:
Three hotels and three churches were attacked by suicide bombers on Sunday belonging to the radical Islamist group National Thowheed Jamaath in an operation that authorities appear to have had advance warning about. By Tuesday morning, 40 people had been arrested, including three being held by the Terrorism Investigation Deparment, said police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara.
The United States pledged support for the investigation, dispatching FBI agents to help, including by offering laboratory experience to test bomb evidence. At least four U.S. citizens are among the dead, and “several” Americans were seriously injured, the State Department said Monday. Sri Lankan Tourism Minister John Amaratunga said 38 foreigners were killed and 28 wounded.
Two officials provided The Washington Post with the three-page intelligence report that the health minister alluded to, in which a senior police official warned of potential suicide attacks by the same Islamist extremist group. A Sri Lankan security official characterized Thowheed Jamaath as a shell for the Islamic State and said it has been active in Kattankudy, an area in the eastern part of the country and home to one of its largest Muslim populations. The group’s leadership is believed to be based there, the official said.“Right now, they are searching everywhere for possible bombs and people involved,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation.
“It wouldn’t surprise me either if there were at least a couple of people who had traveled to Syria,” Leiter said. “There was never a large Sri Lankan population there, but it only takes one or two to return and inspire a local group to align itself ideologically and tactically with a global violent jihadist organization.”
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