Sri Lanka attackers may have been trained in India: report

The eight men the Islamic State group says carried out the attacks, as shown in this video grab from the group’s propaganda agency Amaq. Photo: AFP

Zahran Hashim, said to be the mastermind behind the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka, spent “substantial time in “South India”, a top Sri Lankan military source told The Hindu.

According to the report, investigators have identified nine suicide bombers and suspect that some of them were trained in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

At least 253 people, including 45 children, were killed in a series of suicide attacks on churches and hotels April 21 in Colombo.

Will seek Pakistan’s help to eliminate terrorists: Sri Lankan PM

The blasts have been claimed by the Islamic State, with Sri Lanka’s government pointing fingers at the little-known local militant group National Thowheeth Jama’ath, but saying the group likely had “international” help.

“Certainly the security apparatus is of the view that there are foreign links and some of the evidence points to that,” Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told media on Tuesday night.

“We’ve been following up on this claim. There were suspicions that there were links with ISIS,” he added, using another name for IS.

At least 74 people have been taken into custody, including a man believed to be the father of two of the bombers. Sri Lanka president Sirisena said security forces were hunting more IS supporters.

“We now have info that there are about 140 people in Sri Lanka linked to the Islamic State. We can and we will eradicate all of them very soon,” the president said.

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Article source: https://www.samaa.tv/global/2019/04/sri-lanka-attackers-may-have-been-trained-in-india-report/