04-23-2019, 10:00 AM
Sri Lanka -- ISIS Claims Responsibility
The Islamic State just claimed responsibility for the Sri Lanka Easter bombings, but offered no evidence.
The announcement from ISIS's AMAQ news agency came shortly after Sri Lankan authorities said two domestic Islamist groups, with suspected links to foreign militants, were believed to have been behind the attacks at three churches and four hotels, which wounded about 500 people and thus far claimed the lives of 321 people.
“The initial investigation has revealed that this was in retaliation for the New Zealand mosque attack,” junior minister for defense Ruwan Wijewardene told parliament.
He did not elaborate on why authorities believed there was a link to the killing of 50 people at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch during Friday prayers on March 15. A lone gunman carried out those attacks.
Tuesday was declared a national day of mourning in Sri Lanka and the funerals of some of the victims were held, as pressure mounted on the government over why effective action had not been taken in response to a warning this month about a possible attack on churches by the little-known National Thawheed Jama’ut group.
Full story: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sri-l...SKCN1RZ06M
The Islamic State just claimed responsibility for the Sri Lanka Easter bombings, but offered no evidence.
The announcement from ISIS's AMAQ news agency came shortly after Sri Lankan authorities said two domestic Islamist groups, with suspected links to foreign militants, were believed to have been behind the attacks at three churches and four hotels, which wounded about 500 people and thus far claimed the lives of 321 people.
“The initial investigation has revealed that this was in retaliation for the New Zealand mosque attack,” junior minister for defense Ruwan Wijewardene told parliament.
He did not elaborate on why authorities believed there was a link to the killing of 50 people at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch during Friday prayers on March 15. A lone gunman carried out those attacks.
Tuesday was declared a national day of mourning in Sri Lanka and the funerals of some of the victims were held, as pressure mounted on the government over why effective action had not been taken in response to a warning this month about a possible attack on churches by the little-known National Thawheed Jama’ut group.
Full story: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sri-l...SKCN1RZ06M