Beirut: The Islamic State on Tuesday claimed a series of bombings that killed 321 people in Sri Lanka, and released a photo of the men it said were responsible.
“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,” said a statement released by ISIS propaganda agency Amaq.
The group gave the noms de guerre of seven people who it said were behind the “blessed attack” that targeted Christians during their “blasphemous holiday,” referring to Easter.
It also released a photo of eight men it said were behind the blasts.
Seven of them had their faces covered.
The one man who displayed his bearded face also appeared to carry an assault rifle. After the statement, Sri Lanka PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said he believed the attacks had links to ISIS. Ruwan Wijewardene, Lanka’s state minister of defence, said on Tuesday, “Preliminary investigations have revealed that what happened in Sri Lanka was in retaliation for the attack against Muslims in Christchurch.”
He did not provide evidence or explain where the information was coming from.
Fifty people were killed in shooting attacks on two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch on March 15. Meanwhile, the total number of Indian casualties in Sunday’s horrific bomb blasts in Sri Lanka climbed to 10 on Tuesday.
