Sri Lanka: Bombings were ‘retaliation’ for New Zealand mosque attack
The terror attacks that killed at least 321 people in Sri Lanka were “retaliation” for the mosque shootings in New Zealand, officials said Tuesday.
“The initial investigation has revealed that this was in retaliation for the New Zealand mosque attack,” junior minister for defense Ruwan Wijewardene insisted to parliament there.
He was referring to the March 15 massacre of 50 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, by a white supremacist who live-streamed it to Facebook.
The death toll for Easter Sunday’s retaliation — where suicide bombers targeted three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo — reached 321 by Tuesday with at least 500 injured.
Police revealed that 40 people have been arrested so far, with officials now blaming two local terror groups for the atrocity.
“It was done by the radical Islamic terror group National Thowheed Jamath along with JMI,” he said, referring to Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim.
Tuesday was marked a national day of mourning in the Indian Ocean nation, beginning with three minutes of silence for the victims.
The first mass burial for the victims also took place, with mourners bringing flowers to a memorial service as coffins were carried from a church.
Officials have confirmed four American deaths, including Dieter Kowalski, 40, of Denver, and 11-year-old son Kieran Shafritz de Zoysa, a fifth-grade student at Sidwell Friends school in DC, which the Obama daughters attended.
With Post Wires