The prime minister has said that IS, the Islamic State group may be linked to bomb attacks which took the lives of 321 people and injured 500 in Sri Lanka.
And Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the government firmly believed that Sunday’s blasts couldn’t have been carried out single handedly, and without external help from terror groups.
Sri Lanka marked Tuesday as an official day of mourning for the victims of the Sunday as the first mass funeral was held.
And although there were no evidences brought fourth, IS claimed the attack on Tuesday.
The claim came through the group’s Amaq news media. Sri Lanka’s government meanwhile already blamed the bomb blasts on National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), a local Islamic group.
Mr Wickremesinghe said, “This could not have been done just locally. There had been training given and a coordination which we are not seeing earlier.”
40 suspects have been detained by the Police in connection with the attack, all of whom has been confirmed are Sri Lankan nationals.
A state of emergency is still in effect to avoid more attacks.
The consecutive and almost simultaneous attacks targeted three churches packed for Easter services and three other major hotels in Colombo.
On Sunday, Mr Wickremesinghe said that an attack on a fourth hotel was foiled. And also warned that further militants and bombs could still be “out there” following the attack.
IS said it had “targeted nationals of the crusader alliance [anti-IS US-led coalition] and Christians in Sri Lanka”.
However, they didn’t provide any evidence for their claims but shared a picture on social media of eight men purported to be behind the attack.