A series of blasts planned and executed by IS group in Sri Lanka shook the nation and claimed the life of 320 people and injured over 500.
The Islamic State group proudly took the responsibility of the bombings and also released photos and videos of the suicide bombers.
The chilling video of the bomber
A video that shows a man carrying a heavy backpack and walking towards St. Sebastian’s church. He is dressed in a blue shirt and appears to be so calm. He also crosses the passers-by and lightly pats a baby girl who was walking with his grandfather.
#WATCH Colombo: CCTV footage of suspected suicide bomber (carrying a backpack) walking into St Sebastian church on Easter Sunday. #SriLankaBombings (Video courtesy- Siyatha TV) pic.twitter.com/YAe089D72h
— ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2019
A news agency AFP interviewed him later. He said,’ He touched my granddaughter’s head on the way past. It was the bomber. “He was not excited or afraid. He was so calm.’ The duo has just left the church and merely after minutes, there was a massive blast that killed hundreds of people.
According to onlookers, the guy looked to be around 30 and seemed very young and innocent. However, this did not stop him from blowing up a religious place and killing numerous people.
The statement of IS
It is sad that terrorist groups proudly come out and take responsibility for blasts after their suicide bomber succeeds in killing people. But that’s how it works.
IS propaganda agency Amaq released a statement,” Those that carried out the attack that targeted members of the US-led coalition and Christians in Sri Lanka the day before yesterday are Islamic State group fighters.”
Later, the IS group presented the war names of 7 people who were behind the supposedly was a ‘blessed attack” which targeted Christians during their ‘blasphemous holiday’.
A picture showing 8 people was also released by Amaq in which 7 had their faces covered. While three of them were holding knives, the bearded man whose face wasn’t covered was seen holding an assault rifle. In another video, fighters can be seen pledging allegiance to IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Arabic with a black IS flag hanging in the background.
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The repercussion of bombings
Sri Lanka is under the state of emergency as of now. It is done to protect any other following attacks. The recent bombings not only targetted churches but also hotels and are the biggest bombings since 2001 attacks on the US.
The government is baffled and is trying hard to investigate the entire matter. The government even blamed National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) Islamist group for the Sri Lankan bombings.
According to them, these blasts were done to seek revenge for last month’s attacks on two mosques that took place in New Zealand. A further 18 suspects were arrested overnight, bringing the total detained to 58.
On the other hand, intelligence believes that there are some international terror groups who are backing the extremists of Sri Lanka. Sources claim that two Muslim brothers, who are the sons of a wealthy Colombo spice trader are majorly involved in the attacks. These two were previously blamed for destroying Buddist statues and were active members of the NTJ.
Who all were involved in Sri Lankan bombings?
Abu Obeidah, Abu Baraa, and Abu Moukhtar were behind the attacks on the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand, and Kingsbury hotels, as per the IS commander’s statement. Additionally, Abu Hamza, Abu Khalil, and Abu Mohammad successfully carried out attacks on churches. These attacks were in the cities of Colombo, Negombo, and Batticaloa.
The police confirmed that the bombers were well educated and came from upper middle class and so they are financially independent.
A further statement clarified the action of the seventh fighter, Abu Abdallah. He was the one who killed three police officers in an attack in a Colombo. It’s disappointing that the terrorists and jihadists easily maintain a global network. They are not stopped or caught until a blast shakes the nation.
Just so you know, they have claimed attacks in Iraq, Syria and beyond. Just this Sunday, IS claimed another responsibility for an attack. This one had killed 10 people in Kabul the previous day.
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In Conclusion:
Sri Lanka has been in the middle of religious violence since last 37 years. Tamil rebels and the uprising Buddhist majority and Muslims clashes have added to the existing tension.
Sri Lankan bombings could have been stopped if the government had paid attention to warnings.
