Sri Lanka on edge after local militant group blamed for Easter Sunday attacks: report
By Bradford Betz | Fox News
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Sri Lanka took drastic steps Monday to crack down on new potential terror threats by blocking social media and arresting more than a dozen after a series of suicide bombings allegedly carried out by a domestic militant group ripped through its capital on Easter Sunday.
The country’s health minister said the attacks, which killed at least 290 and injured more than 500, were carried out by seven suicide bombers from a local militant group named National Thowfeek Jamaath. Experts cited by The New York Times said the group promotes an Islamic terrorist ideology. Police said 13 suspects in connection with the bombings have been arrested.
All of the bombers were Sri Lankan citizens, but authorities suspect foreign links, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said at a news conference.
Six nearly simultaneous blasts took place in the morning at the shrine and the Cinnamon Grand, Shangri-La and Kingsbury hotels in Colombo, as well as at two churches outside Colombo. Two more blasts occurred a few hours later outside Colombo -- one at a guesthouse, the other near an overpass.
A government forensic crime investigator said an analysis of the attacker's body parts indicated they were suicide bombers. He said a single bomber carried out most of the attacks, with two at Colombo's Shangri-La Hotel.
Officials on Monday said that Sri Lankan police investigating the bombings are examining reports that intelligence agencies had warnings of possible attacks.
Telecommunications Minister Harin Fernando tweeted, "Some intelligence officers were aware of this incidence. Therefore there was a delay in action. Serious action needs to be taken as to why this warning was ignored." He added that his father had heard of a possible attack and had warned him not to enter popular churches.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has vowed to "vest all necessary powers with the defense forces" to take action against those responsible.
Authorities on Monday lifted a curfew that had been imposed but kept social media block so as to curtail the spread of false information and ease tension in the country of more than 22 million people.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Easter bombings were retaliation for Christchurch mosque attacks ‘preliminary investigation’ shows: Sri Lankan state minister
By Bradford Betz | Fox News
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Sri Lankan's defense minister on Tuesday said a 'preliminary investigation' indicated that the Easter Sunday church bombings by a radical Islamist group were retaliation for the New Zealand mosque attacks last month.
Ruwan Wijewardene, a junior minister for defense, cited a preliminary investigation and said the deadly Easter Sunday bombings that resulted in 321 deaths and more than 500 injuries, was revenge for the "attack against Muslims in Christchurch," Reuters reported.
The Associated Press said he made the comment without citing evidence or explaining where the information came from.
Last month, a heavily-armed shooter mowed down Muslim worshippers during a Friday prayer, massacring 49 people in two New Zealand mosques on March 15 while broadcasting a horrific live stream of the terror attack.
Sri Lanka's leaders wrangled the aftermath of an apparent homegrown militant attack and massive intelligence failure, security was heightened Tuesday and the military was employing powers to make arrests it last used when the devastating civil war ended in 2009.
Faith leaders cited by AP said the suspected leader of the little-known militant group -- National Thowfeek Jamaath -- began posting videos online three years calling for non-Muslims to be "eliminated." The bombers were all Sri Lankan, but authorities said international ties were suspected.
"We do not believe these attacks were carried out by a group of people who were confined to this country,” Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne, according to Reuters. “There was an international network without which these attacks could not have succeeded."
Among the 40 people arrested on suspicion of links to the Easter bombings was the driver of a van allegedly used by the suicide bombers and the owner of a house where some of them lived.
The country is under a state of emergency and the military is operating under enhanced war-time powers following the attacks. Police on Tuesday said that anyone parking a car on the street and leaving unattended must put a note with their phone number on the windscreen. Meanwhile, postal officials said they would no longer accept pre-wrapped parcels for mailing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
