Death toll surpasses 250 in Sri Lanka church, hotel attacks [IS claims responsibility Update#143]

[Realromeo]

My question was how is it that Indians are the first ones to get this intel. What are Sri Lanka doing?

Take a guess.
Hint: the word 'spies' or 'informants' or 'moles' may make your guesswork easier.

Because this group is also based in India. Wouldn't be surprised if one of the attacker was Indian. There were reports of ISIS sympathisers being active in Tamil Nadu.

 

[Technics 1210]

Because this group is also based in India. Wouldn't be surprised if one of the attacker was Indian. There were reports of ISIS sympathisers being active in Tamil Nadu.

Yup, and GOI must be jumping through rings of fire in an attempt to disassociate themselves with this callous attack.

I have no doubt in my mind that Modi will some how spin this tragedy for votes. Such a coincidence these sort of attacks occur during elections.

 

[Hitman]

The later part of your statement is irreverent. I am referring to the official part, that intel knew.

Your excuse for why no action was/is taken, is tautology, to quote you - They could not prevent those attacks. WHY dare I ask?

It's called intelligence failure. And the part which you call irrelevant, is completely relevant. Once again, I'd believe the official words rather than cooked up meaningless conspiracy theories with no merit or facts to back themselves up. The only people in the world who as a nation are so much in love with conspiracy theories are Pakistanis lead by people like Zaid Hamid.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">By features, built, color of skin...none of them is a Sri Lankan but all are Indians...<br>wearing same shirt it seems, one of them holding a Japanese Tanto knife....covering their faces to hide their non-SriLankan origins but claiming to be from Sri Lanka. <br>Total disinformation.</p>— Zaid Hamid (@ZaidZamanHamid) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZaidZamanHamid/status/1120583894687014912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">23 April 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SriLankaAttacks?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SriLankaAttacks</a> are a pure RAW operation. They have used Deoband school but the blame would be out on JuD from Pakistan. All logistics, explosives, funds were provided by RAW. <br>They punished SriLanks, blamed Islam and now would try to nail Pakistan through disinformation.</p>— Zaid Hamid (@ZaidZamanHamid) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZaidZamanHamid/status/1120570811721629696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">23 April 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Classic black Ops.....<br>RAW sends in terrorist cell, provides them with logistics, explosives & maps....then informs <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SriLanka?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SriLanka</a> that another attack is coming. Entire terrorist network is based in India which RAW is using, actually in Tamil Nadu....<a href="https://t.co/NzK2brq2Tw">https://t.co/NzK2brq2Tw</a></p>— Zaid Hamid (@ZaidZamanHamid) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZaidZamanHamid/status/1120591117333028865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">23 April 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Technics 1210]

It's called intelligence failure. And the part which you call irrelevant, is completely relevant. Once again, I'd believe the official words rather than cooked up meaningless conspiracy theories with no merit or facts to back themselves up. The only people in the world who as a nation are so much in love with conspiracy theories are Pakistanis lead by people like Zaid Hamid.

More irrelevance.

One last time, I am referring to the OFFICIAL statement that intel agencies warned before hand.

I asked you why nothing is done in light of this info, be it 9/11 or Mumbai attacks, and you now say it is intelligence failure despite foreign agencies providing the intelligence. Hmmm.

 

[MenInG]

The terrorist group ISIS has claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that killed at least 321 people on Easter Sunday, but provided no evidence.

In a bulletin posted by its Aamaq news agency, ISIS said: “The perpetrators of the attack that targeted nationals of the countries of the coalitions and Christians in Sri Lanka before yesterday are fighters from the Islamic State,” according to a translation by the Associated Press.

The news came on Tuesday as the Sri Lankan minister of defense Ruwan Wijewardene said the attacks were in retaliation for last month’s terrorist attack against Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand, in which 50 people were killed. He did not immediately offer any evidence. “The preliminary investigations have revealed that what happened in Sri Lanka was in retaliation for the attack against Muslims in Christchurch,” he told the Sri Lankan parliament.

Sri Lanka first blamed a local Islamic extremist group called National Thowheeth Jama’ath for the attack, but officials said it had received help from an international terrorist organization, according to the New York Times. Sri Lanka has implemented an “emergency law” giving police powers to detain suspects without a warrant, and 40 people have now been arrested in connection to the attacks.

ISIS has now lost all the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria following an offensive by Syrian opposition forces in March, but terror experts warn it is still a threat.

“ISIS very likely will continue to pursue external attacks … against regional and Western adversaries,” the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, warned in a January report.

http://time.com/5576053/isis-sri-lanka-easter-attack-responsibility/

 

[Sirris]

The people of New Zealand in general and the New Zealand's prime minister in particular, avenged and retaliated for the heinous massacre in Christchurch Mosque far better and heroically than any radical Muslim lunatic could ever hope to.

We are all well aware that Muslim communities, be it in Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan or Iraq have been suffering from bloodshed for past many decades which at parts has been due to the direct meddling of western governments. However that's no reason to be hesitant into calling out and disowning the bad elements within us.

We should express our disgust over these incidents openly and loudly instead of keeping it inside and feeling ashamed. Instead of trying to prove that our hands are free of any innocent blood we should lend out hand in a gesture of solidarity and help.

As Muslims we have been taught the Hadith (narration) of prophet Muhammad that the Muslim Ummah (community) is like one body and if one part of it feels pain then the whole body falls sick and feels the pain. Hence over the years Muslims from all around the world have shown solidarity and compassion to other oppressed Muslims.

Now the time has come to ask those with authority, the Islamic scholars, what is to be done when one part of our body goes astray and starts committing crimes and spills mindless bloodshed? The tumor has gotten bigger and bigger, the aches unbearable, isn't it time to take a knife and cut it off from the rest of the body.

 

[Zeeraq]

Sri Lanka attacks: Mass funerals held as nation mourns

Sri Lanka has held its first mass funeral amid a day of mourning for the victims of Sunday's bomb blasts.

The death toll from the attacks on churches and hotels has risen to 321 with about 500 wounded, police said.

A state of emergency is in effect to prevent further attacks.

The Islamic State (IS) group claimed the attack on Tuesday via its news outlet. Sri Lanka's government has blamed the blasts on local Islamist group National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ).

The country's prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, said the government believed there "may be links" to IS.

"This could not have been done just locally," he said. "There had been training given and a coordination which we are not seeing earlier."

Police have now detained 40 suspects in connection with the attack. A spokesman said they included a Syrian who was arrested "after the interrogation of local suspects".

The mass funeral for about 30 victims took place at St Sebastian's church in Negombo, north of Colombo, which was one of the places targeted in Sunday's blasts. Another funeral service was scheduled for later on Tuesday.

Earlier, a moment of silence was observed at 08:30, reflecting the time the first of six bombs detonated. Flags were lowered to half-mast and people, many of them in tears, bowed their heads in respect.

The state of emergency gives police and the military sweeping powers to detain and interrogate suspects without court orders - powers that were last used during the nation's civil war.

The government limited access to Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram after the blasts.

NTJ, the group named by the government as the main suspect, has no history of large-scale attacks but came to prominence last year when it was blamed for damaging Buddhist statues. The group has not said it carried out Sunday's bombings.

A BBC correspondent in Sri Lanka says the IS statement should be treated cautiously. As with previous attacks that the group says it carried out, it has provided no evidence for the claim.

More at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48019189

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Footage emerges showing one of the suspected bombers behind Sunday's blasts in Sri Lanka, in which more than 300 people died<br><br>[tap to expand] <a href="https://t.co/sJ6akP2ZnU">https://t.co/sJ6akP2ZnU</a> <a href="https://t.co/vT2AsMOlpt">pic.twitter.com/vT2AsMOlpt</a></p>— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1120700091264794625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

The people of New Zealand in general and the New Zealand's prime minister in particular, avenged and retaliated for the heinous massacre in Christchurch Mosque far better and heroically than any radical Muslim lunatic could ever hope to.

We are all well aware that Muslim communities, be it in Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan or Iraq have been suffering from bloodshed for past many decades which at parts has been due to the direct meddling of western governments. However that's no reason to be hesitant into calling out and disowning the bad elements within us.

We should express our disgust over these incidents openly and loudly instead of keeping it inside and feeling ashamed. Instead of trying to prove that our hands are free of any innocent blood we should lend out hand in a gesture of solidarity and help.

As Muslims we have been taught the Hadith (narration) of prophet Muhammad that the Muslim Ummah (community) is like one body and if one part of it feels pain then the whole body falls sick and feels the pain. Hence over the years Muslims from all around the world have shown solidarity and compassion to other oppressed Muslims.

Now the time has come to ask those with authority, the Islamic scholars, what is to be done when one part of our body goes astray and starts committing crimes and spills mindless bloodshed? The tumor has gotten bigger and bigger, the aches unbearable, isn't it time to take a knife and cut it off from the rest of the body.

Islamic scholars who are actually state sanctioned won't even accept ISIS as part of their body, just about all of them would refer to them as outlaw terrorists. What is it you would expect them to do exactly other than that?

These are black ops planned and executed by sophisticated organisations with deep pockets and plenty of reach. This takes brainpower, and as we know ISIS only possess enough brains to invite world power bombardment of Muslim cities. The sums don't add up here, there is a winner but it is not the Muslim world.

 

[Sachin136]

Sri Lanka PM Ranil Wickremesinghe To NDTV: "India Gave Us Intelligence, But There Was A Lapse"

India had shared intelligence inputs with Sri Lanka but there was a lapse in how the country handled it, Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told NDTV in an exclusive interview in Colombo on Tuesday, three days after a terrorist attack killed more than 300 people and injured over 500.

"India gave us the intelligence but there has been a lapse on how we acted on that... intelligence was not conveyed down the line," Mr Wickremesinghe said, adding that Sri Lankan investigators were in touch with several countries, including China and Pakistan, as they probed the strike.

A series of eight explosions had hit churches and hotels on Easter Sunday in an attack that was claimed by terror network ISIS on Tuesday. Sri Lanka had earlier named a local Islamist group, National Thowheeth Jama'ath, as the chief suspect, for the incident act that has sparked international outrage. The suicide strikes sent shockwaves through the island state that has been relatively peaceful since a civil war ended a decade ago.

A statement on the ISIS's official al-Amaq news agency made the claim on the encrypted messaging app Telegram saying the suicide bombers were "fighters of the Islamic State". But it did not provide any evidence of its involvement.

Indian intelligence officers contacted their Sri Lankan counterparts two hours before the first attack to warn of a specific threat on churches, news agency Reuters reported quoting a Sri Lankan defence source and an Indian government source. Another Sri Lankan defence source said a warning came "hours before" the first strike, Reuters reported.

"So far it [those responsible] has been a group confined to Sri Lankan citizens but with foreign connections. This is why we have asked the assistance of some of the foreign agencies to trace the overseas involvement," Mr Wickremesinghe said.

"We have a good intelligence sharing system with India. It has been giving us the help we need. We also have got help from USA and UK. Our priority is to apprehend the terrorists. Until we do that, no one is safe," he said.

The Prime Minister said it was possible that the attacks were retaliation for the shooting last month at a mosque in the New Zealand city of Christchurch - a theory that has been voiced by one of his ministers. "But the planning took place before Christchurch," Mr Wickremesinghe said.

He dismissed that the attacks have frayed communal harmony in Sri Lanka. "It is individuals who work on these and it is not organised movement backed by Muslims. There is a certain amount of tension but that is natural in situation like this. We have to tackle it," he said.

He said Sri Lanka was confident of its critical tourism sector recovering from the setback. "We will be back on the scene. Not only us, Egypt has gone through this, Bali had been through it. It is unfortunate for the economy but tourism will recover... we have come through many such incidents of terror and war," Mr Wickremesinghe said.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/sri...us-intelligence-but-there-were-lapses-2027536

 

[CobraRules]

The later part of your statement is irreverent. I am referring to the official part, that intel knew.

Your excuse for why no action was/is taken, is tautology, to quote you - They could not prevent those attacks. WHY dare I ask?

Getting Intelligence inputs is just like getting some hints about the attack. Sometimes they don't know whole layout plan of how,where or by whom the attack is going to be carried out specifically. Often they do have time constraints also.

For instance knowing an attack was gonna happen in Mumbai was the foremost and easiest part of intelligence. But When? How? Where? By whom? What type of attack? This is the next step. Then it comes how to prevent it without creating any panic among the public. It just becomes tougher and harder after knowing the intel.

That's why sometimes you will see, within few hours the Nations declaring who is responsible because they already knew it before the attack.But unfortunately they were not able to prevent it.

 

[Technics 1210]

Getting Intelligence inputs is just like getting some hints about the attack. Sometimes they don't know whole layout plan of how,where or by whom the attack is going to be carried out specifically. Often they do have time constraints also.

For instance knowing an attack was gonna happen in Mumbai was the foremost and easiest part of intelligence. But When? How? Where? By whom? What type of attack? This is the next step. Then it comes how to prevent it without creating any panic among the public. It just becomes tougher and harder after knowing the intel.

That's why sometimes you will see, within few hours the Nations declaring who is responsible because they already knew it before the attack.But unfortunately they were not able to prevent it.

In other words, the foreign intel is useless if if cannot determine the location, time, and day of the attack - not forgetting the perpetrators.

It should become easier after intel is shared, this is the point of intel, but if the quality of the intel is utterly useless, then it doesn't matter in the end who says what and who shares what.

So what's the next best option? Let the attack be carried out because the intel is useless - which opens up another can of worms.

Begs the question, what is the point in letting someone know an attack is imminent? It's like me letting you know a world cup cricket tournament will take place and a team will win.

 

[Mp812]

It's called intelligence failure. And the part which you call irrelevant, is completely relevant. Once again, I'd believe the official words rather than cooked up meaningless conspiracy theories with no merit or facts to back themselves up. The only people in the world who as a nation are so much in love with conspiracy theories are Pakistanis lead by people like Zaid Hamid.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">By features, built, color of skin...none of them is a Sri Lankan but all are Indians...<br>wearing same shirt it seems, one of them holding a Japanese Tanto knife....covering their faces to hide their non-SriLankan origins but claiming to be from Sri Lanka. <br>Total disinformation.</p>— Zaid Hamid (@ZaidZamanHamid) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZaidZamanHamid/status/1120583894687014912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">23 April 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SriLankaAttacks?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SriLankaAttacks</a> are a pure RAW operation. They have used Deoband school but the blame would be out on JuD from Pakistan. All logistics, explosives, funds were provided by RAW. <br>They punished SriLanks, blamed Islam and now would try to nail Pakistan through disinformation.</p>— Zaid Hamid (@ZaidZamanHamid) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZaidZamanHamid/status/1120570811721629696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">23 April 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Classic black Ops.....<br>RAW sends in terrorist cell, provides them with logistics, explosives & maps....then informs <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SriLanka?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SriLanka</a> that another attack is coming. Entire terrorist network is based in India which RAW is using, actually in Tamil Nadu....<a href="https://t.co/NzK2brq2Tw">https://t.co/NzK2brq2Tw</a></p>— Zaid Hamid (@ZaidZamanHamid) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZaidZamanHamid/status/1120591117333028865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">23 April 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

US and Indian intelligence informed the SL authority of possible attcks but it was not specific but raw information.
There was "lack of communication" from SL heirarchy or they did not take it seriously to be communicated or failed to put 2+2 = 4 together
Similarly in case of 9-11 and Mumbai attacks, there was raw information not specific information and the relevant authorities could not put 2+ 2 = 4 before tragedy struck.

Zaid saw the word RAW in the sentence and using his legendary Sherlock elementary logical deduction skills thinks its Indian hand . But frankly speaking even if the suspects were blonde, blue eyed, white guys he would have deducted somehow it was Indians.
When the destination is crystal clear, a path can be found or imagined at least by people like Zaid.

 

[Khan12]

US and Indian intelligence informed the SL authority of possible attcks but it was not specific but raw information.
There was "lack of communication" from SL heirarchy or they did not take it seriously to be communicated or failed to put 2+2 = 4 together
Similarly in case of 9-11 and Mumbai attacks, there was raw information not specific information and the relevant authorities could not put 2+ 2 = 4 before tragedy struck.

Zaid saw the word RAW in the sentence and using his legendary Sherlock elementary logical deduction skills thinks its Indian hand . But frankly speaking even if the suspects were blonde, blue eyed, white guys he would have deducted somehow it was Indians.
When the destination is crystal clear, a path can be found or imagined at least by people like Zaid.

This applies to a lot of Indians here on PP too.

 

[CobraRules]

In other words, the foreign intel is useless if if cannot determine the location, time, and day of the attack - not forgetting the perpetrators.

It should become easier after intel is shared, this is the point of intel, but if the quality of the intel is utterly useless, then it doesn't matter in the end who says what and who shares what.

So what's the next best option? Let the attack be carried out because the intel is useless - which opens up another can of worms.

Begs the question, what is the point in letting someone know an attack is imminent? It's like me letting you know a world cup cricket tournament will take place and a team will win.

No Intel is useless if that Intel is true. Location, time and day of attack are not even known to those pawns who carry out those attacks. They were told about that at a very last moment.

True Intel often makes it relatively easier. It can alert the security agencies. Something is better than nothing. Can't ignore it because the exact data is not known. Foreign intels are first step. Then local security agencies should work to get the rest information themselves.

It doesn't help you but it can definitely help someone(say a 6 year old kid who has started watching cricket) who doesn't know there is a world cup in cricket. As I said it's relative.

 

[QazzarFan]

iSIS claims Sri Lanka bombings that official says were "retaliation" for New Zealand attack

 

[Mp812]

https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/04/23/as...ntj-intl/index.html?r=https://www.google.com/

 

[Pak Warrior]

Truly sad and heartbreaking news. On the Holiest day of Christian's, animals have targeted them and turned the day of celebrating into a day of mourning. I pray now that the people responsible be found and punished to the fullest. This type of actions are destroying our world, nobody wins with this type of actions. Rest In Peace to all the victims, and my deepest condolences and prayers to the suffering and their families.

 

[giri26]

Sri Lanka bombings victims buried and commemorated on a national day of mourning

As the open caskets were sealed, there was unrestrained grief.

Manik Suriaaratchi and her 10-year-old daughter Alexendria were killed in one of several suicide bomb blasts that shattered the peace of Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday morning.

They died inside Negombo's St Sebastian's Church, one of several targets attacked by Islamist extremists.

Ms Suriaaratchi's husband, Sudesh Kolonne, was among the many families packed into the Catholic House of Prayer Church, about 3 kilometres from St Sebastian's, for mass on Tuesday.

The mother and daughter were laid to rest near Ms Suriaaratchi's childhood village, with mourners filling the small cemetery and spilling out onto the roadside

A national day of mourning in Sri Lanka coincided with mass burials close to the three churches — St Sebastian's in Negombo, St Anthony's Shrine in Colombo and Zion Church in Batticaloa — that were bombed.

Parents buried children, children buried parents, and whole families were buried together.

Many people who survived the attacks arrived at the funerals with bandages covering their injuries.

There was a heavy security presence at cemeteries where mourners gathered. Armed soldiers and police filled the streets, checking vehicles and controlling movement.

All around Colombo, garlands of white streamers are strung from posts and buildings, fluttering across entire streets and highways.

The colour white is used to symbolise mourning in Sri Lanka.

People have hung white flags outside their houses, and tuk tuk drivers have attached them to their vehicles.

Authorities have revealed that two homegrown terror groups were behind the savage attacks, but the planning and execution were so sophisticated that attention quickly turned to foreign groups that may have assisted the deadly plot.

As victims were buried, Islamic State (IS) released a statement claiming responsibility for the attacks, but its propaganda channels did not substantiate the claim with evidence.

IS said the bombings were in retaliation for the Christchurch mosque massacre in March, which saw 50 people killed as they prayed.

But some security analysts say the plot bore the hallmarks of an attack that had been planned long before that date.

It is believed Sri Lankan authorities were given multiple warnings about a planned terror attack that claimed the lives of 320 people.

Although they quickly made more than 40 arrests, it is believed security forces are still looking for people connected to the bomb plot.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04...ourning-sri-lanka-buries-its-victims/11040976

 

[giri26]

Pressure builds on Sri Lankan officials as Isis claims Easter attacks

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka that killed more than 320 people, the group’s Amaq news agency has said, with experts saying the attacks bear the hallmarks of the group.

It is the deadliest overseas operation claimed by Isis since it proclaimed its “caliphate” almost five years ago, and would suggest it retains the ability to launch devastating strikes around the world despite multiple defeats in the Middle East.

The group published a statement saying its “fighters” were responsible for the attack and listing the names of the suicide bombers, who were also shown in a video swearing allegiance.

Experts said that although Isis had made false claims of responsibility in the past, it appeared likely that its involvement in the suicide bombings of three churches and three luxury hotels on Sunday would be confirmed by ongoing investigations.

The claim from Isis came as Sri Lankan authorities were put under further pressure by reports that they had received repeated warnings from Indian intelligence services about a potential suicide attack against churches.

A Sri Lankan defence official told Reuters news agency that a warning was sent by Indian officials on Saturday night. An Indian government source said similar messages had been given to Sri Lankan intelligence agents on 4 April and 20 April.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, said on Tuesday that there were more explosives and militants “out there”, and acknowledged there had been a prior warning about potential attacks. Some officials would likely lose their jobs over intelligence lapses, he said.

Wickremesinghe also revealed there had been a failed attack against a fourth major hotel, and that the Indian embassy was also a possible target.

More than 40 people have been arrested as part of investigations into the attack, which has shaken the fragile stability of Sri Lanka and recalled the worst days of its brutal decades-long civil war.

The military have been granted emergency powers, allowing them to conduct searches without warrants and detain suspects for up to two weeks without a court hearing. Such powers have not been issued since the war, which ended a decade ago.

Isis has also released a photograph of an Islamic cleric from eastern Sri Lanka who has been identified as the leader of the attacks. Mohammed Zahran, also known as Zahran Hashmi, became known to Muslim community leaders three years ago for his incendiary speeches online. Several members of the community attempted to inform security services of the threat they believed Zahran and his followers in the National Towheed Jamaat group posed.

The group has not issued the real names of the suicide bombers, nor specified their nationalities. Investigators believe all were local men, and included two brothers, the sons of a wealthy businessman from Colombo, who attacked the Shangri-La and Cinnamon Grand hotels.

The address given by one of the pair when he checked into the hotel led police to his home in a commercial area of Colombo. An investigator said that after police arrived, the man’s wife set off explosives – killing herself and two children.

Zahran is thought to have fled to the Maldives some years ago to escape the increasing attention of security agencies. The archipelago, a short flight from Sri Lanka, has become a regional hub of Islamist activism.

Dozens of young Sri Lankan men are known to have travelled to Syria to fight in Isis’s ranks. One was killed by an airstrike in 2015. Wickremesinghe admitted that “some of [the attackers] might have travelled abroad and come back”.

Footage has also emerged of a suspected suicide bomber entering St Sebastian’s church in Negombo moments before the attack there. The subsequent explosion, not shown in the video, was the deadliest of the series of coordinated bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, with at least 110 people thought to have been killed. The footage was broadcast widely on Sri Lankan news channels.

Earlier, Sri Lanka’s defence minister, Ruwan Wijewardene, said the attacks had been a response to the recent mass shooting of Muslim worshippers in Christchurch in New Zealand.

However, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said her government had received neither official communication from the Sri Lankan government nor any intelligence sharing regarding the claim. “We have nothing at this point to corroborate what has been said,” Ardern said. She added that she looked forward to speaking more officially with Sri Lankan representatives once their investigation had progressed further.

Wijewardene told a special sitting of parliament: “The preliminary investigations have revealed that what happened in Sri Lanka was in retaliation for the attack against Muslims in Christchurch”, referring to the terrorist attack by a white supremacist in March in which 50 people were killed. The minister did not present any evidence for his claim.

An intelligence memo circulated to some in government in the weeks before the attack noted that one member of the terrorist group, since named as a perpetrator, had started to update his social media accounts with extremist content following the New Zealand shootings.

However, terrorism researchers have observed that the sophisticated nature of the attack and the equipment used would probably have required months of preparations, to identify and monitor targets, recruit suicide bombers and obtain explosives.

One emerging theory among western and south Asian security officials was that Sri Lankans who had fought for Isis in Syria or Iraq may have been “connectors” linking extremists in their home country with experienced terrorists elsewhere.

Analysts have repeatedly stressed that Isis continues to retain the ability to motivate recruits and attract new members, despite the destruction of its so-called caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ankan-officials-as-isis-claims-easter-attacks

 

[MenInG]

Sri Lanka's president has vowed to overhaul state security after several bomb blasts on Sunday killed 359 people and wounded about 500.

On Tuesday, Maithripala Sirisena said warnings had not been shared with him and promised "stern action".

The country's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the Islamic State (IS) group may be linked to the blasts.

Funerals are continuing across the country as people try to process last Sunday's attacks.

IS has claimed the attack, although it did not provide direct evidence of its involvement.

On Wednesday, the death toll saw another rise with police giving the latest figure as 359.

In a televised address late on Tuesday President Sirisena said he would completely restructure the police and security forces in coming weeks.

"The security officials who got the intelligence report from a foreign nation did not share it with me. I have decided to take stern action against these officials."

The BBC World Service's South Asia Editor Ethirajan Anbarasan said it was an embarrassing admission by President Sirisena that security officials did not share with him the intelligence report warning about the attacks.

With IS claiming responsibility for the attacks, Sri Lanka is now entering uncharted territory, our correspondent explains.

Authorities say they are looking into possible links between the local Muslim youths who carried out the suicide bombings and the global jihadist group.

'Grief is all around you'
Rajini Vaidyanathan, BBC News South Asia correspondent, reports from Batticaloa

In the town of Batticaloa, the grief is all around you. Posters of those who died in Sunday's blast hang from every corner. Photos show the young children smiling in party dresses and smart shirts, and written next to their images are their birthdays, as well as the day they died.

They'd been attending Sunday school at the Zion Church, as they did every week. After the service some of them went outside for snacks, a short while later a bomb exploded.

A decade after the civil war ended this community is once again burying its dead. Wreaths of bright pink flowers were left at the freshly dug graves of some of the children. They'd barely been dug - just like the lives lost had barely been lived.

This scenic stretch of the country's east coast has become accustomed to loss. Countless died in the country's civil war. The 2004 tsunami claimed thousands more. Now it's trying to process this latest wave of terror.

'Foreign links'
Sri Lanka's government has blamed the blasts on local Islamist group National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ).

But Mr Wickremesinghe said the attacks "could not have been done just locally".

"There had been training given and a coordination which we are not seeing earlier," he said.

Police have now detained 40 suspects in connection with the attack, all of whom were Sri Lankan nationals. A state of emergency remains in effect to prevent further attacks.


Media captionThe footage shows a man wearing a large backpack calmly walking towards St Sebastian's church
The nearly simultaneous attacks targeted three churches packed for Easter services and three major hotels in the capital, Colombo.

An attack on a fourth hotel on Sunday was foiled, Mr Wickremesinghe said. He also warned that further militants and explosives could still be "out there" following the attack.

Who could be behind the attacks?
IS said it had "targeted nationals of the crusader alliance [anti-IS US-led coalition] and Christians in Sri Lanka" via its Amaq news outlet.

It provided no evidence for the claim but shared an image on social media of eight men purported to be behind the attack.

The group's last territory fell in March but even then experts had warned it does not mean the end of IS or its ideology.

Earlier, the country's defence minister Ruwan Wijewardene told parliament that NTJ was linked to another radical Islamist group he named as JMI. He gave no further details.

He also said "preliminary investigations" indicated that the bombings were in retaliation for deadly attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March.

NTJ has no history of large-scale attacks but came to prominence last year when it was blamed for damaging Buddhist statues. The group has not said it carried out Sunday's bombings.

The Sri Lankan government is facing scrutiny after it emerged the authorities were warned of about a possible attack.

Security services had been monitoring the NTJ but the prime minister and the cabinet were not warned, ministers said.

Who were the victims?
The first mass funeral was held on Tuesday, as Sri Lanka marked an official day of mourning for the victims.

Most of those who died were Sri Lankan nationals, including scores of Christians attending Easter Sunday church services.

Sri Lankan officials said 38 foreign nationals were among the dead, with another 14 unaccounted for. The death toll includes at least eight British citizens and at least 11 Indian nationals.

The mass funeral for about 30 victims took place at St Sebastian's church in Negombo, north of Colombo, which was one of the places targeted in Sunday's blasts. Another funeral service was scheduled for later on Tuesday.

A moment of silence was also observed at 08:30 on Tuesday, reflecting the time the first of six bombs detonated.

Flags were lowered to half-mast and people, many of them in tears, bowed their heads in respect.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48033440

 

[Abdullah719]

Sri Lanka attacks: Bomber 'studied in UK and Australia'

One of the attackers behind the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka studied in the UK, officials say, as further details on the bombers begin to emerge.

The country's deputy defence minister said the bomber studied in the UK before doing a course in Australia.

The announcement comes after the death toll rose again to 359 on Wednesday with more than 500 people wounded.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the Islamic State (IS) group may be linked to the blasts.

IS has said it was responsible for the attacks, although it has not provided direct evidence of its involvement.

Police say they have identified eight out of nine attackers - one of whom is believed to have been a woman - with no foreigners among them.

On Wednesday, the US envoy to Sri Lanka warned that there were "ongoing terrorist plots" in the country.

"Terrorists can strike without warning," Alaina Teplitz told reporters. "Typical venues are large gatherings [and] public spaces."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48035043

 

[Ronaldo7]

Sad to see that even educated people are falling into the traps of these terrorists.

 

[MenInG]

Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a telephone conversation with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday, strongly condemned the string of bombings in Sri Lanka that claimed the lives of at least 359 people.

The prime minister conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the speedy recovery of the wounded.

Prime Minister Imran said that the people of Pakistan are deeply grieved over the loss of precious lives and "stand with their Sri Lankan brethren at this hour of grief."

The prime minister said that terrorism knows no boundaries, no religion and threatens the peace of entire region and the world.

He said that Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and will continue to provide every possible support for elimination of this menace.

He also reiterated Pakistan’s offer of assistance to Sri Lanka towards counter terrorism measures.

Read more: Pakistan helped Iraq in defeating IS, says Iraqi envoy

No word from SL yet: NZ PM
Sir Lanka's leaders have vowed to overhaul the security apparatus amid a series of intelligence lapses before the attacks. They have said that some of the country's security units were aware before Easter of possible attacks, but did not share those warnings widely.

In an address to Parliament, Ruwan Wijewardene, the state minister of defence, said “weakness” within Sri Lanka's security apparatus led to the failure to prevent the nine bombings.

“By now it has been established that the intelligence units were aware of this attack and a group of responsible people were informed about the impending attack,” Wijewardene said.

“However, this information has been circulated among only a few officials.”

The government has said the attacks were carried out by Islamic fundamentalists in apparent retaliation for last months' New Zealand mosque massacre but maintains that the seven bombers were all Sri Lankan. A local extremist group, National Towheed Jamaat, was initially suspected to be behind the attacks.

The militant Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks and released images that purported to show the seven bombers who targeted three churches and three hotels on Sunday in the worst violence the island nation has seen since its civil war ended a decade ago. The group did not provide any other evidence for its claim, and the identities of those depicted in the image were not independently verified.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters in Auckland today that she'd had no official word from Sri Lanka, or seen any intelligence reports, to back that up. However, she added that Sri Lanka was in the early stages of its investigation.

No prior info about attacks: US
US Ambassador Alaina Teplitz, meanwhile, told reporters that “clearly there was some failure in the system.”

Teplitz said the US had “no prior knowledge” of a threat before the bombings. She said a team of FBI agents and US military officials were helping in the investigation.

The IS has lost all the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria and has made a series of unsupported claims of responsibility around the world.

Teplitz declined to discuss whether the embassy or U.S. officials had heard of National Towheed Jamaar or its leader prior to the attack. “If we had heard something, we would have tried to do something about this,” Teplitz said.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1478112/p...unday-attack-in-phone-call-with-sri-lankan-pm

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Indian intelligence officers contacted their Sri Lankan counterparts two hours before the first attack to warn of a specific threat on churches, news agency Reuters reported quoting a Sri Lankan defence source and an Indian government source. Another Sri Lankan defence source said a warning came "hours before" the first strike, Reuters reported.

"So far it [those responsible] has been a group confined to Sri Lankan citizens but with foreign connections. This is why we have asked the assistance of some of the foreign agencies to trace the overseas involvement," Mr Wickremesinghe said.

"We have a good intelligence sharing system with India. It has been giving us the help we need.


https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/sri-...lapses-2027536

I think the Sri Lankan public should be extremely worried that India had knowledge of these well planned and sophisticated attacks, shared the knowledge with Sri Lanka - albeit only a couple of hours before the first attack - yet Sri Lankan security failed to act. What is the point of a security service if they sit on their hands for two hours even when they have had warnings?

 

[CricketCartoons]

I think the Sri Lankan public should be extremely worried that India had knowledge of these well planned and sophisticated attacks, shared the knowledge with Sri Lanka - albeit only a couple of hours before the first attack - yet Sri Lankan security failed to act. What is the point of a security service if they sit on their hands for two hours even when they have had warnings?

They should be more worried that some local sri lankans are killing their brothers. and that is why i support full govt surveillance on its citizens and hate people like snowden.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

They should be more worried that some local sri lankans are killing their brothers. and that is why i support full govt surveillance on its citizens and hate people like snowden.

I agree, seems like neighbour security services have better surveillance of Sri Lankan nefarious activities than Sri Lankans themselves. Even then a friendly warning and heads up went unheeded. This is why I am saying the Sri Lankan public should be worried.

 

[Sirris]

Islamic scholars who are actually state sanctioned won't even accept ISIS as part of their body, just about all of them would refer to them as outlaw terrorists. What is it you would expect them to do exactly other than that?

[...]

The correct abbreviation is IS as in Islamic State and not ISIS, which is an outdated abbreviation. It bothers me when people use the wrong abbreviation. Using the wrong abbreviation does nothing except for displaying ignorance and insincerity, be it intentional or not.

I would like the Islamic Scholars to exercise their authority, fulfill their responsibility and provide answers and a befitting rebuttal to the narrative the likes of IS and Al-Qaeda are spreading. Condemn them and their actions openly when the events call for it. Their efforts so far have been very lacking and void of any relevance for the Muslim and non-Muslim laymen alike. They have failed to reach and motivate the masses.

Over the years I have been to countless Friday sermons, countless events in the mosque, in many different mosques of many different Muslim nationalities (Arabs, Turks, Pakistani...etc.) and not ONCE had the Imam the courage to even slightly mention the elephant in the room. Not once did they have the common sense to talk about issues and events around the world which the Muslim youth is exposed to on a daily basis. We see the events taking place in the newspaper, social media and on TV. We are left wondering and require a proper response and guidance by our scholars. However you enter a mosque and everyone around you is busy ignoring the elephant in the room and pretending everything is rainbows and sunshine. The Imam is busy explaining for the 1000th time the importance of Ramadan and fasting.

I don't want the Imam to dedicate each and every sermon to this matter, nor do I want him to talk about controversial issues to make things interesting and for some drama. But when the Imam wont even humor the topic for one second, nor would he condemn the perpetrators directly and call them out by names then all you have is an imposer who is pretending to be the leader of Muslims and lacks any sort of authority.

Around 2014-2016 when IS was at the height of it's power, churning out daily propaganda and committing the most crime, I never once witnessed any Imam or scholar be it during the official public Friday sermon or at any other unofficial gathering condemn, expose and refute IS's action. During those time I saw many different events taking place in the mosque as usual, be it on calligraphy, improving Tajweed, Iftar gathering or discussing Hadith, which is all fair and makes sense but not once did I see any event or program on the issue of misusing Islam as a mean to spread violence and spill bloodshed.

There was no open, sincere and honest debate about the issues most prevalent in our lives. Issues not just effecting us as believers but also our friends and the society we live in. A regularly held public seminar open to Muslims and non-Muslims alike, refuting the murders in the name of Islam could have been pretty handy and would have surely helped prevent the rise in "Islamophobia".

Alas as a youth you were left to discuss these "controversial" and "taboo" topics outside the mosque in a circle of close but equally ignorant friends. When those responsible don't fulfill their duty that's when people prefer and turn to Sheikh Al-Google and the Internet which then leads to all sort of dark places.

Just by denying the bad element as part of the Islamic body or calling them as outlawed "terrorists" doesn't and hasn't solve the issue. That's what the experience from the past few decades has shown us. On the contrary, the problem has only gotten worse. The vague and half-hearted general remarks such as "Islam is against all sort of violence" or "Islam teaches us peace" aren't going to persuade IS and their likes from their wrongdoings. They are not convincing enough for the troubled, confused and curious youth impressed by the Jihadist Propaganda, nor are these hollow chants going to help decrease the rise in "Islamophobia" and mistrust between Muslims and non-Muslims.

You cannot and will not be able to kill each and every IS sympathizer. The priority should be to kill off the ideology, firepower and the motivational force behind it. This is a war of ideology and the ideology at war isn't the Western Ideology vs the Islamic Ideology. It's the terrorist Ideology vs the rest of the world. Although if you were to closely observe the behavior of Islamic scholars, their timidness on this issue and avoidance of the matter it would have you believe that as if indeed it is a war between the Western Ideology vs the Islamic Ideology.

It's very convenient to label IS as just some brain dead blood thirsty gang of lunatics. Who have nothing to do with the Islamic body. However no one is getting fooled by it. Nor does it prevent the muslim youth to get impressed by the Jihadist rhetoric and keep on providing them with suicide bombers and cannon fodder.

IS, Al-Qaeda and other jihadist group all claim to represent a solution to a problem of Islamic world. They all claim to be the guardian of the Islamic Ummah, the real answer to the humiliation and downfall of the Islamic world. They all claim to be fulfilling a religious duty of defending Muslim lands against crusaders, standing up for the oppressed Muslims in Palestine, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Fulfilling a duty which according to them the rest of the Muslim world is neglecting to do so.

Each one of this claim needs to be scrutinized, exposed and refuted by the right authority i.e. the Islamic scholars, Muftis, Sheikh-ul-Hadith and all the other big titles they love to give themselves. We can't afford to put our fingers in the ears and close our eyes anymore because someone somewhere is being exposed to these claims and without properly guidance will sooner or later be impressed by them.

IS might be the most extreme form of them and are even rejected by other Jihadist group. In fact the other jihadist group have done far more propaganda work to discredit IS and its claim of being a true revivial of the Islamic caliphate than rest of the Islamic scholars combined. So the focus on getting rid of IS and being happy on achieving the goal, is all wrong. Since the Jihadist mindset, that the general violence against West and its associates is the only real solution to the plights of Muslims, hasn't been tackled and will live on in another organization.

In contrast to the dishonest, insincere, fraudulent and timid Islamic leaders when these group present their case, they are very specific in doing so. When they take verses from Quran and references from Hadith all those sources can be easily verified by a layman. At the other hand from Islamic Scholars all you get is "They are misguided youth, misrepresenting the verses and twisting them for their personal gain". You rarely get a proper rebuttal. When in reality not just a proper rebuttal but a proper alternative on how to address the issues, which these radicals claim to address, is the need of time.

I want the Imam and Islamic leaders to not just properly refute and expose IS and Al-Qaeda. But also provide us with a proper solution to the problem which IS and Al-Qaeda claimed to be solving. The thing is that despite their heavily misguided and violent approach these Jihadist groups do in fact recognize and acknowledge the troubles of Muslim world. The issues they raise are the same issues which an average Muslim is concerned with. Hence when the jihadists mention the plight of Muslims and the bloodshed the Muslims have been enduring since the past few decades this rhetoric does resonates with many among the Muslims, even though they might not agree with the overall violent approach of these groups. However with time, increasing frustration, a feeling of helplessness and no other proper alternatives or vision it then produces a new generation of jihadist.

The recent incidents in Sri Lanka are a perfect case study. Sri Lanka was never under direct crusader attack, nor did it have an history of active Islamist insurgency. However the preaching and rhetoric of the Jihadists did reach this small isle and all it took was a handful lunatics to cause chaos and massacre.

Look at the East Turkistan issue. While it is only now that the general Muslims are waking up to it, the Jihadist of Al-Qaeda had decades ago raised this issue and maintained close ties with the militant organization "Turkestan Islamic Party" consisting of ethnic Uyghur since the 90s. In the late 90s Bin Laden and Taliban provided them with safe sanctuaries in Afghanistan. When the Syrian civil war broke out the ties between Al-Qaeda and militant Uyghur's only became stronger since both are fighting alongside each other and supporting the Sunni population while demonstrating that regardless of the ethnic background we stick together for Islam. Now the Jihadist capabilities to liberate even an inch of land under Chinese occupation might be laughable but what isn't laughable is the amount of credibility and propaganda advantage they have on this issue. They have an advantage in not just establishing their authority as the true well-wishers of Muslims but also have enough material to discredit the Islamic scholars and leaders and to expose them as ignorant and insensitive to issues concerning the Muslim world.

This might not impress you or me but there are enough naive, emotional and easily misled Muslim men out their without any proper alternative or perspective to fall for such propaganda and be led astray.

The time for conveniently using the language of vagueness is gone. It's time for the Islamic Scholars to come out of their comfort zone, recognize their responsibility in solving the global issue and get specific in their rhetoric. They have to be specific in who, what, why and which actions they are condemning and also need to provide a specific answer to the Jihadist propaganda. The Islamic scholars and leaders cannot allow the Jihadist to take a leading role in any matter concerning the Muslim world.

They also need to take a holistic approach and have to be unbiased and openly condemn the western power's constant meddling in the Muslim world too along with the subservient and corrupt Muslim leaders.

The modern extremist Jihadist literature needs to be challenged and fought. I am a laymen but these scholars have dedicated their whole lives to Quran, Hadith and books of Fiqh it's time to demonstrate that their brainpower is stronger than the brain dead people in IS.

They have to provide sincere answers on how the proper Islamic armed struggle is supposed to look like and whether the current oppression of Muslims legitimizes armed struggle or not. Besides discrediting the Jihadist propaganda they have to motivate the masses, provide them with a vision and a perspective on how to properly solve the plight of Muslims, how to rid the Muslim world of their perceived humiliation and bring back honor and glory.

[...]

These are black ops planned and executed by sophisticated organisations with deep pockets and plenty of reach. This takes brainpower, and as we know ISIS only possess enough brains to invite world power bombardment of Muslim cities. The sums don't add up here, there is a winner but it is not the Muslim world.

I don't care about alternative explanations. When I am out in public and have to talk about these issues with concerned friends and other people, I don't want to sound like a weird conspiracy theorist denying any responsibility. Especially since I can't name these "sophisticated organisation" and there is very little tangible proof to back it up.

I prefer to focus on things which are easily verifiable and on events and facts which can't be ignored.

So far the brainpower of IS and Al-Qaeda has outsmarted the brainpower of all the Islamic scholars combined. Despite being chased after and bombarded for decades they have not only managed to remain alive but also see an increase in their followers, sympathizers and managed to replace the losses of their top leadership and mid-level commanders. They have managed to influence young Muslims living in the west while the Islamic scholars can hardly point out to examples where they helped de-radicalize the situation. While the Islamic scholars are content with vague slogans the jihadist haven't tired down from preaching their ideology and bring countless references from Islamic sources and history amidst of all the hurdles and bombings they have to face.

It is time to stop underestimating the enemy and acknowledge their existence in a proper way.

 

[Sirris]

Sad to see that even educated people are falling into the traps of these terrorists.

There is no "trap" no "brainwashing" going on. It's a simple case of the appropriate other party failing to show up to the debate and provide answers.

The Islamic scholars have allowed the jihadist to spread their narrative without properly and thoroughly refuting it. They have been content in putting fingers in their ears and closing their eyes and telling the masses to do the same. It is so convenient and easy for them to label others as "brainwashed" instead of coming up with a proper well-thought rebuttal. They have failed to come up with a proper alternative narration and a vision to the one brought forth by the jihadist and they have failed to motivate and establish their credibility and authority among the masses. Hence they are always referred to by the average Muslim as "useless Maulvis" with a sense of despise.

While the Jihadist, for recruitment purposes, have endless speeches of people like Abdullah Azzam, Bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Abu Musab Al-Suri, Abu Yahya Al-Libi, Anwar al-Awlaki and Ustadh Ahmad Farooq, which are fully dedicated to their ideology, narrative and propaganda, you would hardly find anything in response from the Islamic scholar that could match them in clarity, sincerity, stubbornness, valor and zeal.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Dear Sirris,

I don't want to quote that humongous post as it will disturb the readability of the thread so be assured this reply is addressed to you.

In your final paragraph you reasoned that the Jihadists of ISIS and Al Qaeda are indeed outsmarting the western military and and current Islamic scholars. I don't see it myself, but if it is true, then they must be the rightly guided ones. Perhaps they aren't as thick as I thought. Anyway, not my problem since I only go to the mosque once in a while to do the community prayers, usually the Imams stick to the boring stuff about tawheed, iftari and hadith, and to be honest, if they are as dumb as we think, probably best they don't try to address world affairs.

Living in the west I myself don't have to be religiously motivated so the responsibility lies with those of you who take religion seriously. I would advise you to consult with your community scholars and ensure they are adequately trained and knowledgeable to partake in political discourse about world events. Good luck in your venture.

As I said, I live in the UK and the group you refer to is called ISIS here so I will continue to refer to them in the same terms as my fellow Brits.

 

[MenInG]

One of the attackers behind the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka once studied in the UK, officials say, as further details on the bombers emerge.

He visited south-east England in 2006-7 to study but did not complete a full university degree, a senior Whitehall official told the BBC.

The attacker later did a course in Australia, Sri Lanka's deputy defence minister said.

The death toll has risen to 359, with more than 500 people wounded.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said the Islamic State (IS) group may be linked to the blasts.

IS has said it carried out the attacks, which targeted churches and high-end hotels, although it did not provide direct evidence of its involvement.

What do we know about the attackers?
A Whitehall official confirmed the name of the bomber who had visited the UK as Abdul Latif Jamil Mohammed.

Sri Lankan Deputy Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said the attacker had gone on to do "his postgraduate in Australia before coming back to settle in Sri Lanka".

Confirmation that he studied in the UK in the mid-2000s would tend to cast doubt on the likelihood of his being radicalised so long ago, says the BBC's Security Correspondent Frank Gardner.


Media captionThe footage shows a man wearing a large backpack calmly walking towards St Sebastian's church
It also points to his being in his early to mid-30s at the time of the attacks, our correspondent adds.

Mr Wijewardene added that most of the attackers had been "well educated and come from... middle or upper middle class" families.

"They are financially quite independent and their families are quite stable financially," he said.

Two of the bombers are reportedly brothers and the sons of a wealthy Colombo spice trader. They detonated their explosives at the Shangri-La and the Cinnamon Grand hotels, police sources told the AFP news agency.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48035043

 

[Sirris]

Dear Sirris,

I don't want to quote that humongous post as it will disturb the readability of the thread so be assured this reply is addressed to you.

In your final paragraph you reasoned that the Jihadists of ISIS and Al Qaeda are indeed outsmarting the western military and and current Islamic scholars. I don't see it myself, but if it is true, then they must be the rightly guided ones. Perhaps they aren't as thick as I thought. Anyway, not my problem since I only go to the mosque once in a while to do the community prayers, usually the Imams stick to the boring stuff about tawheed, iftari and hadith, and to be honest, if they are as dumb as we think, probably best they don't try to address world affairs.

Living in the west I myself don't have to be religiously motivated so the responsibility lies with those of you who take religion seriously. I would advise you to consult with your community scholars and ensure they are adequately trained and knowledgeable to partake in political discourse about world events. Good luck in your venture.

As I said, I live in the UK and the group you refer to is called ISIS here so I will continue to refer to them in the same terms as my fellow Brits.

I don't get how you came to the conclusion that the current outsmarting of Jihadist, as perceived by me, must imply that they are rightly guided ones. A serial killer can outsmart the police but that doesn't justifies his murders and his out-smartness should rather be seen as a opportunity for the police to rethink its operational plans. Surely your remark is sarcastic and it might give you some satisfaction of having a response at hands, however the sarcasm in no way answers the issues I raised or delegitimizes them.

Well, I am glad to see that your experience of mosques, in a totally different country than mine, are still similar to my experiences. Where the supposed leader of Muslims, the Imam, is just repeating memorized lectures and is fully unaware or deliberately ignoring and brushing aside highly relevant and sensitive issues concerning the Muslim community and the society at large. With such an obvious negligence, people are then still surprised and baffled that some naive teenager migrated to a troubled region like Syria.

You having similar experiences further reinforces my points to me and validates that my observations are indeed grounded in reality.

You are naive into believing this is not your problem. Don't look at my post as if it's about what's wrong with Muslims scholars, rather it's supposed to highlight a very important aspect that needs to be addressed if we want to tackle the problem of rise a in terror groups like IS once and for all. If you truly want the world to be a more peaceful, open-minded and tolerant place then it indeed is your problem.

Religious motivation is not at all necessary to care about what I said. The only thing you need is the motivation to see an end to mindless innocent bloodshed, to prevent the world to fall into further chaos and vicious cycle of revenge. The motivation should be to see people from all sort of cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds to come together, have an open and sincere discussion, admit their shortcoming and mistakes and to see an increase in trust in different members of the society.

The thing is, I get a feeling that your view on this global problem is that some highly mysterious and sophisticated organization are behind all this trouble and violence. Therefore Muslim communities shouldn't be held responsible, should be void of any blame and left alone. While I strongly disagree and feel Muslim communities do have to accept a certain degree of blame and can do and improve on certain aspects to help reduce the widespread of the problem and increase trust in the society.

My humongous post was an attempt to thoroughly highlight one such aspect which I observed over the years.

Now I don't expect you to go and do something about it, however at the very least acknowledge this problematic aspect plaguing the worldwide Muslim community and have it in mind the next time you think and talk about the rise in global terrorism and a never ending emergence of extremist fanatic Muslims willing to blow themselves up despite having a proper educational and good financial background.

This is a problem relevant to all of us who don't want to see the world go down and have loved ones. We can't afford anymore to shrug our shoulders and chant "not my problem". America's policy of "might makes right" has failed miserably and only played into the hands of the Jihadist. Hence it has become even more important for the average citizen of the world to be more aware and educated about the problem and play his or hers own little role in solving it.

Another aspect to solve the issue would be that the American and NATO's war-mongering and war crimes over the decades must be condemned equally as the jihadist's bloodshed. If Bin Laden needed to be punished then so must Bush jr. and all those liars who promoted and were responsible for the Iraq war in 2003. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

The solution isn't found in the power and superiority of western military over the cavemen jihadist. It lies in the power of proper scrutiny, critical thinking and being sincere with oneself. It lies in the willingness to swallow one's pride and sense of honor and to use one's own brain, instead of choosing to remain ignorant and accepting herd mentality. This implies to all humans, regardless of any ethnic, cultural or religious affiliation.

 

[KingKhanWC]

I personally feel Islamic world is going backwards, if you look around, lets be honest here there is not much contribution from the Islamic world as far as, science, economy, forward progression etc. The Arabs if they did not have their oil, they would be nothing today.. We hear of a terrorists attack in the name of Islam year after year and it is a major problem all over the globe, yeah all 2 billion muslims cannot be labelled, however they sure aren't doing enough to drive out extremism.

Look at this video I came across from London for example (and NO I am not saying all muslims are like this), however muslim community has a major problem on their hands:

There is no such thing as a Muslim community. Unlike other religions such as Judaism and Hinduism where most of the followers live in one area of the world, the Muslims are all over. They all speak differently, look different, eat different, talk different etc. The only thing all Muslims have in common is they pray, fast and go to Hajj. The video you have posted( I haven't watched) will be a very minority view even in the UK.

You say Arabs have oil, well it's their lands natural resources. Look at Dubai or Doha, no majority Hindu city is as advanced as these two. Even Islamabad is cleaner and a better place to live than any majority Hindu city. So it all depends how you look at it. I know many who think Hindus are very backward esp when they see them wash themselves in the Ganges where dead bodies are floating around. Lets look at things with with an ojbective vision not a programmed one.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I don't get how you came to the conclusion that the current outsmarting of Jihadist, as perceived by me, must imply that they are rightly guided ones. A serial killer can outsmart the police but that doesn't justifies his murders and his out-smartness should rather be seen as a opportunity for the police to rethink its operational plans. Surely your remark is sarcastic and it might give you some satisfaction of having a response at hands, however the sarcasm in no way answers the issues I raised or delegitimizes them.

Well, I am glad to see that your experience of mosques, in a totally different country than mine, are still similar to my experiences. Where the supposed leader of Muslims, the Imam, is just repeating memorized lectures and is fully unaware or deliberately ignoring and brushing aside highly relevant and sensitive issues concerning the Muslim community and the society at large. With such an obvious negligence, people are then still surprised and baffled that some naive teenager migrated to a troubled region like Syria.

You having similar experiences further reinforces my points to me and validates that my observations are indeed grounded in reality.

You are naive into believing this is not your problem. Don't look at my post as if it's about what's wrong with Muslims scholars, rather it's supposed to highlight a very important aspect that needs to be addressed if we want to tackle the problem of rise a in terror groups like IS once and for all. If you truly want the world to be a more peaceful, open-minded and tolerant place then it indeed is your problem.

Religious motivation is not at all necessary to care about what I said. The only thing you need is the motivation to see an end to mindless innocent bloodshed, to prevent the world to fall into further chaos and vicious cycle of revenge. The motivation should be to see people from all sort of cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds to come together, have an open and sincere discussion, admit their shortcoming and mistakes and to see an increase in trust in different members of the society.

The thing is, I get a feeling that your view on this global problem is that some highly mysterious and sophisticated organization are behind all this trouble and violence. Therefore Muslim communities shouldn't be held responsible, should be void of any blame and left alone. While I strongly disagree and feel Muslim communities do have to accept a certain degree of blame and can do and improve on certain aspects to help reduce the widespread of the problem and increase trust in the society.

My humongous post was an attempt to thoroughly highlight one such aspect which I observed over the years.

Now I don't expect you to go and do something about it, however at the very least acknowledge this problematic aspect plaguing the worldwide Muslim community and have it in mind the next time you think and talk about the rise in global terrorism and a never ending emergence of extremist fanatic Muslims willing to blow themselves up despite having a proper educational and good financial background.

This is a problem relevant to all of us who don't want to see the world go down and have loved ones. We can't afford anymore to shrug our shoulders and chant "not my problem". America's policy of "might makes right" has failed miserably and only played into the hands of the Jihadist. Hence it has become even more important for the average citizen of the world to be more aware and educated about the problem and play his or hers own little role in solving it.

Another aspect to solve the issue would be that the American and NATO's war-mongering and war crimes over the decades must be condemned equally as the jihadist's bloodshed. If Bin Laden needed to be punished then so must Bush jr. and all those liars who promoted and were responsible for the Iraq war in 2003. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

The solution isn't found in the power and superiority of western military over the cavemen jihadist. It lies in the power of proper scrutiny, critical thinking and being sincere with oneself. It lies in the willingness to swallow one's pride and sense of honor and to use one's own brain, instead of choosing to remain ignorant and accepting herd mentality. This implies to all humans, regardless of any ethnic, cultural or religious affiliation.

So in a nutshell you are saying we have to enjoin the common good and condemn the evil regardless of religion. I agree. I am already doing this so we are are in sync here, and I would think most people across the world would be the same.

 

[Sirris]

So in a nutshell you are saying we have to enjoin the common good and condemn the evil regardless of religion. I agree. I am already doing this so we are are in sync here, and I would think most people across the world would be the same.

Paraphrasing my whole post as "be good, don't be evil" would be unjust and the statement is unfortunately one of many vague, feel-good platitudes which lacks any depth. Therefore I prefer to take my time and be a bit more specific and thorough in what and how I want the things to be different than they currently are.

Unfortunately most people only have a theoretical mental appreciation of the concept and only pretend to be moral but when it really matters to apply the mindset in practice, they fail to do so. Which explains why the world is currently in a sh*tty place despite abundance of well-intended platitudes and fortune cookies.

We might be in sync on many issues. That doesn't concern me. What matters to me the most are highly sensitive and relevant issues where we are not in sync. That's where I want to get to the bottom of the things and find out where and why my understanding might be lacking.

In this particular topic you initially seemed to imply that the Islamic scholars declaring IS as an outlawed terrorists, not part of the Islamic body is enough effort and contribution on their part. A view, which I strongly disagree with as illustrated in my initial reply to you.

 

[Markhor]

There is no "trap" no "brainwashing" going on. It's a simple case of the appropriate other party failing to show up to the debate and provide answers.

The Islamic scholars have allowed the jihadist to spread their narrative without properly and thoroughly refuting it. They have been content in putting fingers in their ears and closing their eyes and telling the masses to do the same. It is so convenient and easy for them to label others as "brainwashed" instead of coming up with a proper well-thought rebuttal. They have failed to come up with a proper alternative narration and a vision to the one brought forth by the jihadist and they have failed to motivate and establish their credibility and authority among the masses. Hence they are always referred to by the average Muslim as "useless Maulvis" with a sense of despise.

While the Jihadist, for recruitment purposes, have endless speeches of people like Abdullah Azzam, Bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Abu Musab Al-Suri, Abu Yahya Al-Libi, Anwar al-Awlaki and Ustadh Ahmad Farooq, which are fully dedicated to their ideology, narrative and propaganda, you would hardly find anything in response from the Islamic scholar that could match them in clarity, sincerity, stubbornness, valor and zeal.

I don't think you can generalise. My mosque's imam regularly condemns terror attacks committed by these groups, I can't speak for others. However there's validity to your argument.

These extremists are totally misguided but provide a tempting narrative for angry young men just like white supremacist groups or other radical ideologies. They argue you have been demonised and marginalised by mainstream society, and by joining us on our crusade this is an opportunity to fight back whilst obtaining a divine reward.

The problem with their ideology is they intend to kill innocents who have nothing to do with the condition of Muslims, and by committing these acts you'll also cause innocent Muslims to suffer. So these imams need to provide a counternarrative and actually understand the real issues these young Muslims face in today's society instead of preaching the same thing heard 1000 times before.

Some imams even in the west have been imported from overseas so deliver the khutbas in a language these youngsters don't even speak so how can you appeal or talk to them ?

 

[troodon]

I think the Sri Lankan public should be extremely worried that India had knowledge of these well planned and sophisticated attacks, shared the knowledge with Sri Lanka - albeit only a couple of hours before the first attack - yet Sri Lankan security failed to act. What is the point of a security service if they sit on their hands for two hours even when they have had warnings?

Why should Lanka be worried that India knows about these attacks? RAW might have intercepted some messages shared by the perpetrators and shared it with Lankan Government.

Your anti India rhetoric is quite palpable in your posts these days.

 

[90MPH]

ISIS are a cancer and their threat is still lurking despite the massive damage they have incurred in Syria/Iraq.

This attack seems to have been planned a long time given the coordination and carnage.

RIP to the victims, so devastating for Sri Lanka. We all need to be in solidarity with them because these radical religious lunatics only want to divide us with these attacks.

 

[troodon]

I am puzzled how extremists can use the same verses from the holy book and interpret it very differently as compared to moderate Muslims.

 

[troodon]

ISIS are a cancer and their threat is still lurking despite the massive damage they have incurred in Syria/Iraq.

This attack seems to have been planned a long time given the coordination and carnage.

RIP to the victims, so devastating for Sri Lanka. We all need to be in solidarity with them because these radical religious lunatics only want to divide us with these attacks.

IS cannot attack without the support of the local Jihadi elements. IS probably supplies the plans and the locals still have to execute the plans. But you cannot target local Jihadis without being labeled racist or Islamophobic.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Paraphrasing my whole post as "be good, don't be evil" would be unjust and the statement is unfortunately one of many vague, feel-good platitudes which lacks any depth. Therefore I prefer to take my time and be a bit more specific and thorough in what and how I want the things to be different than they currently are.

Unfortunately most people only have a theoretical mental appreciation of the concept and only pretend to be moral but when it really matters to apply the mindset in practice, they fail to do so. Which explains why the world is currently in a sh*tty place despite abundance of well-intended platitudes and fortune cookies.

We might be in sync on many issues. That doesn't concern me. What matters to me the most are highly sensitive and relevant issues where we are not in sync. That's where I want to get to the bottom of the things and find out where and why my understanding might be lacking.

In this particular topic you initially seemed to imply that the Islamic scholars declaring IS as an outlawed terrorists, not part of the Islamic body is enough effort and contribution on their part. A view, which I strongly disagree with as illustrated in my initial reply to you.

And therein lies the problem. We live in a world where the majority read tabloid newspapers which are dumbed down and lowered in quality to appeal to the masses. paraphrasing is how the world works, the easy answers are the ones which sell. Out of 10 Jonnies or Billys, how many do you think would read 1000 word articles rather than a front page with a lurid headline?

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Why should Lanka be worried that India knows about these attacks? RAW might have intercepted some messages shared by the perpetrators and shared it with Lankan Government.

Your anti India rhetoric is quite palpable in your posts these days.

Thank you, but this was not really an anti-Indian post, you could probably find better examples to prove that truth. It was more a criticism of Sri Lankan security that RAW knew more about Sri Lankan affairs than they did themselves, then compounded it by ignoring the warning.

 

[Ronaldo7]

Why should Lanka be worried that India knows about these attacks? RAW might have intercepted some messages shared by the perpetrators and shared it with Lankan Government.

Your anti India rhetoric is quite palpable in your posts these days.

What in that paragraph was anti india?
Looks like you're trying too hard.

 

[troodon]

What in that paragraph was anti india?
Looks like you're trying too hard.

I have been reading his posts and normally Captain is a pretty neutral. But in the past couple of months, his posts have become very critical of India (some of it is justified).

 

[Romali_rotti]

There is no such thing as a Muslim community. Unlike other religions such as Judaism and Hinduism where most of the followers live in one area of the world, the Muslims are all over. They all speak differently, look different, eat different, talk different etc. The only thing all Muslims have in common is they pray, fast and go to Hajj. The video you have posted( I haven't watched) will be a very minority view even in the UK.

You say Arabs have oil, well it's their lands natural resources. Look at Dubai or Doha, no majority Hindu city is as advanced as these two. Even Islamabad is cleaner and a better place to live than any majority Hindu city. So it all depends how you look at it. I know many who think Hindus are very backward esp when they see them wash themselves in the Ganges where dead bodies are floating around. Lets look at things with with an ojbective vision not a programmed one.

While you make some good points, which I agree with, however I felt you missed the message what I was trying to convey. Cleanliness, Ganges etc are not a threat to the world, there has been a terrorist attack in the name of Islam for a few years on a consistent basis.

Worldwide terrorism in the name of 1 religion, this is the issue. Till the Islamic community can find a way to get rid of this evil, I feel in the future, muslims all over the globe living outside of Islamic countries may be in danger of getting isolated.

I am actually quite interested in finding out what causes this, I may start with reading the Quran and see if there are any words or interpretations in it that could influence a person to do what is modern terrorism that has been conducted by certain muslims all over the globe, for educational purposes..

 

[Zeeraq]

Colombo on high alert after 'warning' of a potential explosion

The Easter Sunday attacks killed over 350 people in the island nation.

Colombo went on a high alert on Thursday following a “warning” of a potential explosion. Official sources said armed police were checking vehicles and the authorities have urged residents to remain vigilant and calm.

The checks were a preventive measure, the sources said.

On Easter Sunday, bombings killed over 350 people in the island nation.

On Thursday morning, employees of several organisations and institutions, including the Central Bank, were asked not to leave their premises for close to an hour.

Blast in Pugoda town

A blast was reported on Thursday morning at a vacant plot near the magistrate’s court in Pugoda town, 40 km away from Colombo, and no one was injured in the incident, police said, adding that they were investigating the explosion.

Police have nabbed at least 60 suspects in connection with the Sunday serial bombings and are on the lookout for more.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/colombo-on-high-alert/article26941451.ece

 

[Zeeraq]

Sri Lanka's defence secretary quits following suicide bomb attacks

Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando told Reuters on Thursday that he had resigned, taking responsibility for the suicide bomber attacks on the country last Sunday.

He said that while there had been no failure on his own part, he was taking responsibility for failures of some institutions he headed as the secretary of defence.

He said that security agencies were actively responding to intelligence they had about the possibility of attacks before they were launched.

“We were working on that. All those agencies were working on that,” he said.

The Easter Sunday bombings on churches and luxury hotels killed at least 359 people and wounded about 500.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1478341/sri-lankas-defence-secretary-quits-following-suicide-bomb-attacks

 

[troodon]

While you make some good points, which I agree with, however I felt you missed the message what I was trying to convey. Cleanliness, Ganges etc are not a threat to the world, there has been a terrorist attack in the name of Islam for a few years on a consistent basis.

Worldwide terrorism in the name of 1 religion, this is the issue. Till the Islamic community can find a way to get rid of this evil, I feel in the future, muslims all over the globe living outside of Islamic countries may be in danger of getting isolated.

I am actually quite interested in finding out what causes this, I may start with reading the Quran and see if there are any words or interpretations in it that could influence a person to do what is modern terrorism that has been conducted by certain muslims all over the globe, for educational purposes..

Check out tons of videos from Ex-Muslim athiests who talk about the fighting verses in the Holy Quran. Search for the Youtuber Apostate Prophet.

 

[Ronaldo7]

Check out tons of videos from Ex-Muslim athiests who talk about the fighting verses in the Holy Quran. Search for the Youtuber Apostate Prophet.

As if they left because there are "fighting verses" in the Quran. Lol.

 

[troodon]

As if they left because there are "fighting verses" in the Quran. Lol.

Its the easiest way to see why some Muslims interpret the verses differently. They may have left for a variety of reasons.

 

[Ronaldo7]

An American Muslim Teenager has had her photo publicised by Sri Lankan officials claiming her to one of the terrorists. She came out and said that she's alive and not the person who they think she is. Sri Lankan officials have come out and said that they were wrong and are sorry.
How are you going to ruin someone's reputation like that?
A major blunder.

https://mobile.twitter.com/Natsecjeff/status/1121408426150592513

https://mobile.twitter.com/beepdelete/status/1121440020647350277

 

[Ronaldo7]

Also the Dg of health services is saying that the death toll is actually 253 not 350+. What are Sri Lankan officials doing?

https://mobile.twitter.com/Natsecjeff/status/1121441680345968642

 

[Sirris]

Check out tons of videos from Ex-Muslim athiests who talk about the fighting verses in the Holy Quran. Search for the Youtuber Apostate Prophet.

Can you link or mention the name of one specific video from that YouTuber Apostate Prophet regarding the "fighting verses"? There are tons of videos on his channel on different topics and with sometimes clickbaitish titles. I don't have the time to filter through all of then. I am interested in his videos on "fighting verses" in particular and not in his refutation of Islamic faith.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

There will be fighting verses in the Quran, just as there are verses enjoining charity and patience. This can be taken out of context if one has a mind to it, but in reality human beings do fight, even a thousand years after the Quran they are still doing it. Today we have invented weapons of mass destruction without needing inspiration from the Islamic holy books so perhaps we should ponder on the reasons we do that.

 

[jadaja]

There will be fighting verses in the Quran, just as there are verses enjoining charity and patience. This can be taken out of context if one has a mind to it, but in reality human beings do fight, even a thousand years after the Quran they are still doing it. Today we have invented weapons of mass destruction without needing inspiration from the Islamic holy books so perhaps we should ponder on the reasons we do that.

You are so right , every religion has fighting verses in them but what is happening is Muslim youth are getting affected by it too much.

World will be a better place to live if we can find answers and prevent Muslim youth to resort to violence.

 

[Ronaldo7]

Mods, can you please change the title. The officials are now saying that 253 have died not 350+. What a Joke of a government.

 

[KingKhanWC]

While you make some good points, which I agree with, however I felt you missed the message what I was trying to convey. Cleanliness, Ganges etc are not a threat to the world, there has been a terrorist attack in the name of Islam for a few years on a consistent basis.

Worldwide terrorism in the name of 1 religion, this is the issue. Till the Islamic community can find a way to get rid of this evil, I feel in the future, muslims all over the globe living outside of Islamic countries may be in danger of getting isolated.

I am actually quite interested in finding out what causes this, I may start with reading the Quran and see if there are any words or interpretations in it that could influence a person to do what is modern terrorism that has been conducted by certain muslims all over the globe, for educational purposes..

Ok. I was replying to your view of 'I personally feel Islamic world is going backwards,'. If it is in terms of violence/terrorism then we have to be even more careful.

What is terrorism? It's killing of innocent people for political purposes. Even the definition doesn't mention religion. Most experts who have studied 'terrorist' attacks say its not religion but a political cause. There is also state terrorism. What the US and it's allies has done in the last 2 decades is way beyond what any groups have done. I dont know of an attack on civillians by any group which has caused mothers to children with deformities or where they have destoryed whole villages, towns and nations. What Israel and India are doing to populations is also terrorism imo and in the opinion of many others.

As for the Quran, please do read it. But if there were verses which order Muslims to take part in such violence, why aren't the rest of us 99.999% of doing it?

 

[Akki malhotra]

Ok. I was replying to your view of 'I personally feel Islamic world is going backwards,'. If it is in terms of violence/terrorism then we have to be even more careful.

What is terrorism? It's killing of innocent people for political purposes. Even the definition doesn't mention religion. Most experts who have studied 'terrorist' attacks say its not religion but a political cause. There is also state terrorism. What the US and it's allies has done in the last 2 decades is way beyond what any groups have done. I dont know of an attack on civillians by any group which has caused mothers to children with deformities or where they have destoryed whole villages, towns and nations. What Israel and India are doing to populations is also terrorism imo and in the opinion of many others.

As for the Quran, please do read it. But if there were verses which order Muslims to take part in such violence, why aren't the rest of us 99.999% of doing it?

By that logic hindustanis has been victim of terrorism since centuries because of many invasions through out centuries, burning their temples, mass forced conversions etc.
You won't hear indians killing people through out history. Very rare instances. There is a reason this indian land gave birth to many beautiful religions like budhism, sikhism, jainism, hinduism and hundreds of others.

Dnt know why you intentionally want to drag india out of no where.

 

[Akki malhotra]

Mods, can you please change the title. The officials are now saying that 253 have died not 350+. What a Joke of a government.

Why are you concentrating on numbers? We have biggest problem here causing problem to the humanity. We should focus about how to stop these things.

 

[Ronaldo7]

Why are you concentrating on numbers? We have biggest problem here causing problem to the humanity. We should focus about how to stop these things.

Ironic coming from an indian. You lot don't even care that these many people have lost their lives, you're more concerned with it being 'islamists' behind it. I'm more concerned about the joke which Sri lanka is playing on its people not numbers. Not acting on intel provided is the biggest one of them all.

 

[Ronaldo7]

By that logic hindustanis has been victim of terrorism since centuries because of many invasions through out centuries, burning their temples, mass forced conversions etc.
You won't hear indians killing people through out history. Very rare instances. There is a reason this indian land gave birth to many beautiful religions like budhism, sikhism, jainism, hinduism and hundreds of others.

Dnt know why you intentionally want to drag india out of no where.

No offence to any Sikhs but Sikhs haven't been peaceful. We all know what happened in 1947 and in the 80s in India.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Sri Lankans are truely showing their incompetence to the world.
First they did not react on the warnings.

Now apparently they counted wrong they say. The death toll was wrong by around 100. So now it's 250+ dead and not 350. How can such mistakes be made?

 

[KingKhanWC]

By that logic hindustanis has been victim of terrorism since centuries because of many invasions through out centuries, burning their temples, mass forced conversions etc.
You won't hear indians killing people through out history. Very rare instances. There is a reason this indian land gave birth to many beautiful religions like budhism, sikhism, jainism, hinduism and hundreds of others.

Dnt know why you intentionally want to drag india out of no where.

Indians are killing people now, why look back at history?

I was discussing different form of terrorism and imo Indian state is guilty of this.

 

[Sirris]

Why are you concentrating on numbers? We have biggest problem here causing problem to the humanity. We should focus about how to stop these things.

Despite all the horror and violence all around the world we can all at least appreciate and be glad that 100 innocent lives weren't actually lost. It does not stop anything nor does it bring back the already dead but it's still a relief for those who value hunan life, no matter how small.

Your critic would have merit if you were advocating the news to stop reporting the numbers of deads altogether. Like "There was an incident and people died."

 

[Abdullah719]

Sri Lanka attacks: Death toll revised down by 'about 100'

Sri Lanka has revised down the death toll from Sunday's blasts by more than 100, to "about 253", the health ministry says.

It has blamed a calculation error.

Suicide bombers struck hotels and churches in the Colombo area and the eastern city of Batticaloa. Hundreds were injured, officials said.

Most of those killed were Sri Lankans, but dozens of foreigners were also casualties. Nine people are suspected of carrying out the attacks.

Police have continued carrying out raids and have issued photographs of seven people wanted in connection with the attacks.

The authorities blamed a local Islamist extremist group, National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), soon after the blasts but say the bombers must have had outside help.

The Islamic State group said it was behind the attacks and published a video showing eight men but provided no evidence of direct involvement.

In other developments:

Hundreds of Muslims, fearing revenge attacks, have been fleeing the city of Negombo, site of one of the attacks
Sri Lanka's defence secretary, Hemasiri Fernando, the top non-elected official at the department, announced his resignation on Thursday in response to intelligence failures
The country's Catholic Church has announced the suspension of all church services
Police say more than 70 people have now been arrested
The UK Foreign Office is now warning against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka


Why was the initial death toll wrong?

Sri Lankan Deputy Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said morgues had provided inaccurate figures.

Another official, the head of health services, told Reuters news agency there had been so many body parts it was "difficult to give a precise figure".

According to the health ministry, all autopsies had been completed late on Thursday and it transpired that some victims had been counted more than once.

BBC World Service South Asia editor Jill McGivering says the revised figure comes as the government is struggling to restore its credibility - amid criticism of its apparent failure to respond to intelligence warnings before the attacks.

It's also battling to counter fake news and false rumours about the crisis, she says. This sudden dramatic revision is unlikely to help.


What is the situation with the Muslim minority?

Muslims in Sri Lanka are reporting feeling fearful and say they are facing persecution.

Many of those in Negombo belong to a minority sect, the Ahmadi. Some have been sheltering in a mosque under police protection.

Ahmadi Muslims identify as Muslim and follow the Koran, but are viewed by many orthodox Muslims as heretical.

Many of those living in Sri Lanka have fled from persecution elsewhere, including Pakistan.

The Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has admitted that some Ahmadi have been subject to attacks. Of Sri Lanka's 21-million population, just under 10% are Muslims.


A community in fear

Muralitharan Kasiviswanathan, BBC Tamil, Negombo

As of Wednesday, more than 600 Ahmadis had taken refuge at Faizul Mosque in Negombo, one of the five Ahmadi mosques in Sri Lanka.

Most of the Ahmadis were renting their homes from Catholic Christians. Although the bomb blasts happened on 21 April, it was on the 24th that things got scary for the Ahmadis.

"My home is some streets away from the church. After the attack, the owner of my house was very worried and asked me to be safe somewhere. I am paying 13,000 rupees [£58; $74] for that house. Most of us paid a year's rent an advance. Where will we go now?" asks 27-year-old Habis Rabba Soaib.

About 800 Ahmadis from Pakistan live here with the help of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Fearing religious prosecution, they fled Pakistan and came to Negombo. From here they seek asylum in European countries or the US.

Although the Faizul mosque is small, officials of the mosque are taking care of them and sending most of them to another mosque, Pesalay, which is in a safer location. This mosque is now guarded by army and the police.

More than 5,000 native Ahmadis live in Negombo. Many of them have lived here for years and now own houses and businesses.

"Since we are here for a long time, nobody is threatening us," says one of the Muslim youths who is busy helping the Pakistanis.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48059328

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="cy" dir="ltr">Burj khalifa &#55357;&#56911;&#55357;&#56911;&#55357;&#56911; <a href="https://t.co/cCd7suvaNr">pic.twitter.com/cCd7suvaNr</a></p>— Dimuth Karunaratne (@IamDimuth) <a href="https://twitter.com/IamDimuth/status/1121466402915934210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[BreadPakoda]

Sri Lanka attacks: Death toll revised down by 'about 100'

Sri Lanka has revised down the death toll from Sunday's blasts by more than 100, to "about 253", the health ministry says.

It has blamed a calculation error.

Suicide bombers struck hotels and churches in the Colombo area and the eastern city of Batticaloa. Hundreds were injured, officials said.

Most of those killed were Sri Lankans, but dozens of foreigners were also casualties. Nine people are suspected of carrying out the attacks.

Police have continued carrying out raids and have issued photographs of seven people wanted in connection with the attacks.

The authorities blamed a local Islamist extremist group, National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), soon after the blasts but say the bombers must have had outside help.

The Islamic State group said it was behind the attacks and published a video showing eight men but provided no evidence of direct involvement.

In other developments:

Hundreds of Muslims, fearing revenge attacks, have been fleeing the city of Negombo, site of one of the attacks
Sri Lanka's defence secretary, Hemasiri Fernando, the top non-elected official at the department, announced his resignation on Thursday in response to intelligence failures
The country's Catholic Church has announced the suspension of all church services
Police say more than 70 people have now been arrested
The UK Foreign Office is now warning against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka


Why was the initial death toll wrong?

Sri Lankan Deputy Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said morgues had provided inaccurate figures.

Another official, the head of health services, told Reuters news agency there had been so many body parts it was "difficult to give a precise figure".

According to the health ministry, all autopsies had been completed late on Thursday and it transpired that some victims had been counted more than once.

BBC World Service South Asia editor Jill McGivering says the revised figure comes as the government is struggling to restore its credibility - amid criticism of its apparent failure to respond to intelligence warnings before the attacks.

It's also battling to counter fake news and false rumours about the crisis, she says. This sudden dramatic revision is unlikely to help.


What is the situation with the Muslim minority?

Muslims in Sri Lanka are reporting feeling fearful and say they are facing persecution.

Many of those in Negombo belong to a minority sect, the Ahmadi. Some have been sheltering in a mosque under police protection.

Ahmadi Muslims identify as Muslim and follow the Koran, but are viewed by many orthodox Muslims as heretical.

Many of those living in Sri Lanka have fled from persecution elsewhere, including Pakistan.

The Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has admitted that some Ahmadi have been subject to attacks. Of Sri Lanka's 21-million population, just under 10% are Muslims.


A community in fear

Muralitharan Kasiviswanathan, BBC Tamil, Negombo

As of Wednesday, more than 600 Ahmadis had taken refuge at Faizul Mosque in Negombo, one of the five Ahmadi mosques in Sri Lanka.

Most of the Ahmadis were renting their homes from Catholic Christians. Although the bomb blasts happened on 21 April, it was on the 24th that things got scary for the Ahmadis.

"My home is some streets away from the church. After the attack, the owner of my house was very worried and asked me to be safe somewhere. I am paying 13,000 rupees [£58; $74] for that house. Most of us paid a year's rent an advance. Where will we go now?" asks 27-year-old Habis Rabba Soaib.

About 800 Ahmadis from Pakistan live here with the help of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Fearing religious prosecution, they fled Pakistan and came to Negombo. From here they seek asylum in European countries or the US.

Although the Faizul mosque is small, officials of the mosque are taking care of them and sending most of them to another mosque, Pesalay, which is in a safer location. This mosque is now guarded by army and the police.

More than 5,000 native Ahmadis live in Negombo. Many of them have lived here for years and now own houses and businesses.

"Since we are here for a long time, nobody is threatening us," says one of the Muslim youths who is busy helping the Pakistanis.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48059328

Any idea why the Ahmadis are particularly under threat?

 

[Sirris]

The fact that innocent Sri Lankan Muslims, who had no connection whatsoever behind this heinous crime, have to fear for their well-being and need to flee from their homes should show that the human's tendency to act irrationally, indiscriminately and violently isn't something which is exclusive to one religion. Though religions in general do at times exploit these tendencies.

It is all too easy to think and act morally and rationally when you live in an utopia and haven't had to bear the loss of loved ones. Only when you too are forced to deal with mindless bombings, deaths and losses of loved ones does your true character comes to surface.

Therefore the decade long ongoing conflicts and warfare in the Muslim world and the countless incidents of drones and bombings of innocents can not be taken lightly or shurgged aside without bringing the responsibile parties to justice. There needs to be the same amount of outrage, anger and dishust as there is after every terrorist attack and rightfully so. That's the least those who truly want peace can do.

In my lifetime the Iraq invasion of 2003 was the biggest unlawful, and unjust warfare to happen. How many Iraqi teenagers in 2003 were dreaming about their future and career when suddenly from day to another they found themselves in the middle of destruction and mayhem.

Unfortunately despite the result of this unjust invasion being obvious to everyone, no one is really interested in holding the responsibile parties accountable to their lies and deceit.

This is only the Iraq invasion of 2003. Then there were the gulf wars in the 90s though it happened before I became aware of the world and my knowledge on the events is limited.

It is all to easy to point at certain controversial verses and say that's the problem. When in reality everything is connected. In nk way does one wrong justifies thenither. However what goes around, comes around is indeed a reality of life.

 

[troodon]

Any idea why the Ahmadis are particularly under threat?

They are considered non-believers by Muslims and their lives are in danger for they claim that they are Muslims.

 

[Abdullah719]

Any idea why the Ahmadis are particularly under threat?

Many of those in Negombo belong to a minority sect, the Ahmadi.

Presumably they form a large proportion of the population in the specified area.

 

[Sirris]

Imagine with me for a moment Bush jr., Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and others responsible parties getting trialed for their lies which led to the Iraq war. Imagine them getting lifetime jail sentences. Imagine Obama's nobel peace prize getting nullified and him having to answer for each drone attack that led to the death of a single innocent.

Wouldn't these things be far more productive in preventing the vicious cycle of radicalism and extremism. Wouldn't they be far more efficient in making the backwards minded Muslim world understand why modern western, secular, liberal and democratic values are far superior to what all the religions combined had to offer to mankind throughout history.

Alas this is but just my daydream. While those who claim to be guardian of progressive thought have nothing else than bombing, bombing and more bombings in mind. Those responsible for bringing death and destruction to live of millions of people can happily enjoy their retirement and time with their families without having to answer for their bad decisions and judgments.

 

[The_Odd_One]

When will Muslims realize that they are their biggest enemy and the #1 reason behind Islamophobia. Why would anyone buy your "religion of peace" claim when you keep killing innocent people every month?

 

[Sirris]

When will Muslims realize that they are their biggest enemy and the #1 reason behind Islamophobia. Why would anyone buy your "religion of peace" claim when you keep killing innocent people every month?

When will you realize that finger waging, taunting and guilt tripping isn't the solution to the problem and is only going to further add to distance and alienation.

Take your average Muslim who has the exact same worries as you: Completing education, finding a job, finding someone to marry and living a happy life. Just like you he is law abiding and hasn't harmed a fly. Just like you he wakes up in the morning and finds about the dreadful incidents. Just like you he is shocked, bewildered and disturbed.

He wasn't part of the terrorist planning, the terrorists didn't consulted him. He had the same amount of control and influence on the terrorists as you.

Then you come along try to shame and guilt trip the person. You come along and put them in the same basket and equally responsible as the terrorists. It is highly unlikely that they are going to see you as their friend and well-wisher. It is highly unlikely you are going to convince them of anything.

Only when you start treating the typical Muslim as your friend, who is sitting in the same boat as you and equally vulnerable to terrorist bombings, will your advice and message hold any meaning.

 

[gazza619]

The truth is not as straight forward. Why would muslims/IS kill in Sri Lanka?

We need to figure out who would be the biggest beneficiary of this and I can only think of US, Israel and India because of their anti muslim chants.

This stinking group of 3 are going to destroy everything for their self gain.

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has told Sky News the country's government knew Sri Lankan nationals who had joined Islamic State had returned to the country but they could not be arrested as joining a foreign terrorist organisation is not against the law</p>— Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/1121445572991488000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[gazza619]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has told Sky News the country's government knew Sri Lankan nationals who had joined Islamic State had returned to the country but they could not be arrested as joining a foreign terrorist organisation is not against the law</p>— Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/1121445572991488000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Is this for real? How stupid of the SL PM.

 

[TSA321]

When will you realize that finger waging, taunting and guilt tripping isn't the solution to the problem and is only going to further add to distance and alienation.

Take your average Muslim who has the exact same worries as you: Completing education, finding a job, finding someone to marry and living a happy life. Just like you he is law abiding and hasn't harmed a fly. Just like you he wakes up in the morning and finds about the dreadful incidents. Just like you he is shocked, bewildered and disturbed.

He wasn't part of the terrorist planning, the terrorists didn't consulted him. He had the same amount of control and influence on the terrorists as you.

Then you come along try to shame and guilt trip the person. You come along and put them in the same basket and equally responsible as the terrorists. It is highly unlikely that they are going to see you as their friend and well-wisher. It is highly unlikely you are going to convince them of anything.

Only when you start treating the typical Muslim as your friend, who is sitting in the same boat as you and equally vulnerable to terrorist bombings, will your advice and message hold any meaning.

Great post

 

[Sirris]

The truth is not as straight forward. Why would muslims/IS kill in Sri Lanka?

We need to figure out who would be the biggest beneficiary of this and I can only think of US, Israel and India because of their anti muslim chants.

This stinking group of 3 are going to destroy everything for their self gain.

US, Israel and India might well ne the winner.

However there is alot Muslims and Muslim scholars in particular can do to ease the tension, build trust and bridge the gap with non-Muslim and unaware masses.

We can be alot more open towards others and share and express our solidarity instead of dwelling on alternative theorist and falling into denial mode.

 

[90MPH]

IS cannot attack without the support of the local Jihadi elements. IS probably supplies the plans and the locals still have to execute the plans. But you cannot target local Jihadis without being labeled racist or Islamophobic.

This attack has the footprints of IS, totally indiscriminate and the softest targets possible.
Without thier influence be it ideological or direct influence such a big attack would not be possible for a local jihadi group.


People forget how much they (ISIS) have been decimated - 3/4 years ago they were controlling swathes of land in Syria and Iraq and once they were retreating were making regular attacks in mainland Europe using trucks, AK-47s and crude explosives. Some even used knives against random people in London.

However in the last year or so the attacks have subsided dramatically because most have melted away or been arrested. However some are obviously dormant and others planning attacks, depending on the skill level they have achieved.

Sri Lanka has had a massive intelligence failing for such an attack to occur. They clearly turned a blind eye to IS as they let didn’t take the threat seriously enough for whatever reason.

 

[giri26]

Sri Lanka bombings: More terror attacks 'very likely' as death toll revised

More terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka are "very likely", nearly a week after the Easter Sunday bombings that killed hundreds of people.

The UK foreign office has said that terrorists are very likely to try to carry out further attacks and advised travellers against all but essential travel.

The US has warned that further attacks are likely over the weekend, and urged people to avoid crowded places and places of worship.

The death toll from the suicide bomb blasts stands at around 100 fewer deaths than previously reported, down from 359 to around 250, a Sri Lankan health official told Reuters.

"It could be 250 or 260. I can't exactly say," said Anil Jasinghe, the director general of Sri Lanka's health services.

Deputy defence minister Ruwan Wijewardene said the death toll had been revised down to 253 due to inaccurate figures provided by the country's morgues.

"Unfortunately the health ministry provided the earlier number to us," he said.

Bomb scares impacting tourism

Regular bomb scares in Colombo mean the city remains emptied of tourists, with many opting to leave the country or stay in their hotel rooms.

The main road to the airport and the central bank were both shut during bomb threats.

Office workers were told to go home early and central malls and restaurants are either shut or empty.

The city remains under a night-time curfew.

Tuk tuk driver Riswan was sitting outside a renowned Buddhist temple hoping for passengers in central Colombo.

"Now you see everywhere is empty," he said.

"What should we do? I came here in the morning and until now in the afternoon I haven't earnt anything — zero!"

Sri Lanka's blossoming tourism industry is likely to be crippled by the deadly suicide attacks.

After the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 and the end of the civil war in 2009, tourism boomed over the past decade, with visitors up 400 per cent.

The industry is worth $6 billion a year to the island nation.

Sri Lanka has also scrapped a plan to give tourists from 39 countries — including Australia, the US and the UK — free visas on arrival.

The scheme was due to start on May 1 to boost visitor numbers in the off season.

But the tourism minister said that given investigations have found foreign connections to the terror plot, the country can't take the risk.

Sri Lanka's defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando resigned over intelligence failures that saw three churches and three luxury hotels bombed on Easter Sunday.

Police have released the photos and names of seven suspects they're still looking for, including three women.

Senior clerics in Sri Lanka's Muslim community have said that they will not accept the bodies of the suicide bombers and they will not be farewelled in mosques or buried in Muslim cemeteries.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-26/sri-lanka-bombings:-more-terror-attacks-very-likely/11047728

 

[pillionrider]

The correct abbreviation is IS as in Islamic State .......

Don't want to add to scrolling problems, but POTW.