This is of course agit prop nonsense, peaceful Christians in Sri Lanka (or in New Zealand for that matter) have utterly nothing to do with what a demonically deranged man does in New Zealand. But by projecting blame, one creates a false sense of justification. Murder is murder, period.
Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror gives us a map, which also ups the incident count to eight:
The same source reports:
An improvised explosive device was detected inside a van near the St. Anthony’s Church, Jampettah Road, Kochchikade, and was disposed in controlled explosion at the site by the Bomb Disposal Unit . . . .
Islamic State supporters are celebrating the Sri Lanka suicide bombings which killed 290 people on Easter Sunday and left around another 500 injured, Daily Mail Online reported.
The SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist activity online, said ISIS fanatics were praising the terror attacks as revenge for the Christchurch mosques shooting.
No group has officially claimed responsibility for the blasts at five-star hotels and churches but Sri Lankan police say a previously unknown Muslim extremist group were the subject of an intelligence warning ten days before . . . .
The police today informed Colombo Chef Magistrate’s Court that the suicide bomber of the Shangri-La hotel had been identified as Insan Seelavan and owned a factory in Avissawella- Wellampitiya road.
Nine employees of the said factory were arrested by the Wellampitiya Police and were remanded till May 6 after being produced in the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court.
The Police also informed the court that the suicide bomber was suspected to have links with other suicide killers died in the Dematagoda blast . . . .
The Government Analyst today confirmed that yesterday’s attacks on three churches and three hotels were carried out by suicide bombers.
“All the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers,” Government Analyst A. Welianga told the Daily Mirror.
A local Islamist terrorist group called National Thowfeek Jamaath was responsible for multiple Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks against Christians and luxury hotel guests in Sri Lanka, government officials on Monday revealed.
Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne told a news conference that all the bombers were Sri Lankan citizens. Earlier, a government forensic crime investigator said an examination of the Islamist attackers’ body parts showed that they were suicide bombers.
Senaratne, who is also a Cabinet minister, added that the government was investigating whether the group had “international support” . . . .
The U.S. State Department, meanwhile, warned of further attacks in a revised travel advisory, urging increased caution and adding: “Terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in Sri Lanka.”
The bombings, Sri Lanka’s deadliest violence since a devastating civil war ended a decade ago on the island nation, killed at least 290 people with more than 500 wounded, on Easter Sunday.This is the world we now live in, and that is what we must soberly face as a region. END
Most of those killed were Sri Lankans. But the three bombed hotels and one of the churches, St. Anthony’s Shrine, are frequented by foreign tourists, and Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said the bodies of at least 27 foreigners from a variety of countries were recovered.
