What We Know and Don’t Know About Sri Lanka’s Bloody Massacre

The death toll from Sri Lanka’s bloody massacre has increased. Police have reported the arrest of 60 people. The government, acknowledging shortcomings in its security apparatus, has admitted that it received a warning 10 days before the incident about attacks on churches.

The death toll from the Sri Lanka massacre has risen to 359 people. The number of injured has exceeded 500. Sri Lankan police have reported the arrest of approximately 60 suspects. Information regarding the background of the suicide attackers involved in the incident is still being compiled.

On Wednesday, April 24 (Farvardin 4), Sri Lankan police announced that the death toll from the Sri Lanka attacks had risen to 359 people.

According to the German-language news website Tagesschau, citing Lakshman Kiriella, Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament, 60 people have been arrested so far in connection with the attacks. He predicted that the number of suspects could reach 100.

Sri Lankan police have identified eight of the nine suicide bombers. According to Sri Lankan Defense Minister Rowan Wijewardene, one of the attackers was a woman.

According to the Guardian newspaper, one of the attackers studied in Britain and Australia, and many of them had lived outside the country.

Sri Lanka Massacre on Easter Sunday

This massacre occurred following a series of explosions at several churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Sunday, April 21 (Farvardin 1), which coincided with the Christian Easter holiday.

The attacks began with six near-simultaneous explosions that targeted three churches and three hotels in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.

Hours later, according to police reports, two more explosions occurred in areas outside Colombo. Police reports indicated that the eighth explosion was a suicide attack.

Security officials said a bomb near Colombo’s international airport was also defused.

The news website “Amaq,” affiliated with the “Islamic State” (ISIS) group, reported that Sunday’s attacks in Sri Lanka were carried out by members of this organization. The website released a video claiming that seven Sri Lankan suicide bombers had pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader (caliph) of ISIS.

Initial investigations by the Sri Lankan government indicated that the deadly attacks in Sri Lanka were planned with the aim of “retaliating for the attacks on two mosques in New Zealand.”

Forty days earlier, an Australian far-right extremist attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing fifty people in the massacre.

Sri Lanka’s Speculation About the Incident

The Sri Lankan government had previously identified an Islamist group called “National Thowheed Jamaath” as the perpetrator of the Sri Lanka massacre, but this group has not yet reacted to this accusation.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, points to evidence suggesting a possible connection to international networks in carrying out these attacks.

He stated that given the scale and extent of Sunday’s explosions, these attacks were most likely carried out in coordination and cooperation with an international foreign assassination network.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, also added that since the attackers had recently been abroad, a “foreign connection” is likely.

Warning About Attacks on Churches

The Sri Lankan government has acknowledged that ten days before the bloody Easter massacre, a foreign security agency warned Sri Lankan security officials about potential attacks by the “National Thowheed Jamaath” group on churches.

Maitripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka, in his first public speech following Sunday’s massacre, acknowledged shortcomings in the security system and promised fundamental changes to that system.

The Sri Lankan government’s criminal investigation has so far determined that most of the attacks were carried out by individual attackers, except for the attack on the luxury Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, which was carried out by two male attackers.

Further investigation into a possible connection between the Easter massacre and the attack on mosques in Christchurch is ongoing, and the Sri Lankan government has not yet provided further details to prove this possibility.

Source: DW