Terror Attack in Sri Lanka
- Thread starter Butter Chicken
- Start date
Foreigners, including Pakistanis, caught up as Sri Lanka searches for clues - World - DAWN.COM
Pakistanis held as suspects in blasts and lot of them running from Sri Lanka fearing revenge from public.
Dogs are treated better than Pakistanis all over the world. For any incident the first one to be rounded up, humiliated, kicked out, threatened but still their country doesn't stop supporting terrorists.
Read tweets from Pakistan and reaction of Pakistan on NZ terrorist attack. Whole focus was to play victim, every tweet included "islamophobia" so much so that their minister wasted millions on a trip to attend a conference with other Jihadi nations to play victim. Now not a single tweet mentions Christians are killed or Islamic jihadis were killers. 350 killed in it and see the silence! It's deafening.
Pakistanis held as suspects in blasts and lot of them running from Sri Lanka fearing revenge from public.
Dogs are treated better than Pakistanis all over the world. For any incident the first one to be rounded up, humiliated, kicked out, threatened but still their country doesn't stop supporting terrorists.
Read tweets from Pakistan and reaction of Pakistan on NZ terrorist attack. Whole focus was to play victim, every tweet included "islamophobia" so much so that their minister wasted millions on a trip to attend a conference with other Jihadi nations to play victim. Now not a single tweet mentions Christians are killed or Islamic jihadis were killers. 350 killed in it and see the silence! It's deafening.
someone sent me a good joke on whatsapp.
sons of Ishalal and Musalal are killing eachother in the world but congress is blaming the sons of Ramlal for spreading terror in the world.
sons of Ishalal and Musalal are killing eachother in the world but congress is blaming the sons of Ramlal for spreading terror in the world.
Compare this to India where intimation is send, body is handed over and a grand funeral is allowed to influence more drug addicts to search for glory in their pathetic useless life.
India is most sympathetic to terrorists, nowhere in world you see any jihadi opening mouth on tv in support of terrorists after attack however here our news carry news bite from some Maulana or politician worried about the human rights of terrorists, giving them popularity and government sleeps.
This is how we plan to get rid of terrorists, by helping them every step of the way.
I know I am going to sound insensitive to religious sentiments. But there is another method to discourage or eliminate Islamic terrorism world over. And its answer comes from basic question for all Islamic driven terrorism across world.
What do these Jihadist want? to fight in the name of god, kill the infidels(non believers in Islam) & resultantly go to heaven - 72 virgins bonus.
What is the means of that transfer to heaven - burial must
If India & world decide, that they will deny that options to people who done terrorism act in name of Islam, then the purpose of terrorist attacks fails itself.
Just burn every terrorist after death. There whole purpose fails to reach heaven by killing infidels(non believers) & so does Islamic terrorism finish too world over
I bet no terrorist will attack, if they know they will get burnt. Its a religious driven war, the solution lies in understanding the process & hijacking them.
Just like no Islamic country will ever do a decent & courageous tank battle in their history - they don't want to burn inside on getting hit
But this has to be a Global agreed, anti terrorism policy, for it to work.
What do these Jihadist want? to fight in the name of god, kill the infidels(non believers in Islam) & resultantly go to heaven - 72 virgins bonus.
What is the means of that transfer to heaven - burial must
If India & world decide, that they will deny that options to people who done terrorism act in name of Islam, then the purpose of terrorist attacks fails itself.
Just burn every terrorist after death. There whole purpose fails to reach heaven by killing infidels(non believers) & so does Islamic terrorism finish too world over
I bet no terrorist will attack, if they know they will get burnt. Its a religious driven war, the solution lies in understanding the process & hijacking them.
Just like no Islamic country will ever do a decent & courageous tank battle in their history - they don't want to burn inside on getting hit
But this has to be a Global agreed, anti terrorism policy, for it to work.
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Sri Lanka attacks: Who are National Thowheed Jamath?
A previously little-known group called the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) is being accused of having carried out the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan officials pinned the blame on the NTJ at a news conference on Monday.
However, the NTJ has not admitted carrying out the wave of bombings which tore through the island, killing at least 359 people.
On Tuesday, the Islamic State (IS) group said its militants had carried out the attacks. It did not provide any details.
The IS claim should be treated cautiously. The group usually claims an attack very soon afterwards, publishing pictures of those who carried it out on its media portal, Amaq.
But still, the allegation raises the question, what is the NTJ?
Origins
Until Monday, when the Sri Lankan government spokesman mentioned its name, very few people had heard of the NTJ.
The group is believed to have splintered off from another hardline Islamist group in the country, the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath (SLTJ).
While still relatively unknown, the SLTJ is a bit more established. Its secretary, Abdul Razik, was arrested in 2016 for inciting hatred against Buddhists. He later issued an apology.
Some reports have also linked the NTJ to a spate of vandalism last December that targeted Buddhist temples in Mawanella, central Sri Lanka. The faces of Buddha statues that were on display outside the temples were attacked.
But the NTJ is an extremist fringe group within an already small religious minority - only 9.7% of Sri Lanka's population of about 21 million are Muslim.
Its social media presence is sparse, too. Although it has a Facebook page, it is only updated every few weeks or so. The NTJ Twitter feed hasn't updated since March 2018.
The group's website is also offline - although it's not clear if it was taken down before or after Sunday's attacks.
Government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told reporters in Colombo on Monday that there had been "several warnings from foreign intelligence agencies about the impending attacks".
This isn't the only claim that officials had been alerted.
Sri Lankan Telecommunications Minister Harin Fernando tweeted a document that was reportedly sent by Sri Lanka's police chief earlier this month.
That document explicitly names the NTJ - as well as a warning that the group was planning to attack churches and the Indian High Commission.
The document also names Mohamed Zahran, the group's leader.
Alan Keenan, Sri Lanka director for the International Crisis Group think tank, also told BBC 5Live that the NTJ "appears to be the same group" as those behind the Mawanella vandalism.
He added: "The police eventually arrested a group of young men who were said to have been the students of a preacher who's named in the intelligence document that came out yesterday [Sunday]."
Government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne (file photo) named the NTJ as suspects
But given how small NTJ are, officials suspect that it wasn't acting alone.
"We don't see that only a small organisation in this country can do all that," Mr Senaratne said. "We are now investigating the international support for them, and their other links, how they produced the suicide bombers here, and how they produced bombs like this."
And while not naming the NTJ directly, the Sri Lankan president's office echoed this belief that whichever group was behind the attacks had help from abroad.
"The intelligence sections have reported that there are international terror groups which are behind the local terrorists," a statement from President Maithripala Sirisena said. "International assistance will be sought to combat them."
PLEASE NOTE : AS BEING SPECULATED IN SM, IT HAS NOT BEEN LINKED TO THE INDIAN ORGANISATION WITH THE SAME NAME.
A previously little-known group called the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) is being accused of having carried out the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan officials pinned the blame on the NTJ at a news conference on Monday.
However, the NTJ has not admitted carrying out the wave of bombings which tore through the island, killing at least 359 people.
On Tuesday, the Islamic State (IS) group said its militants had carried out the attacks. It did not provide any details.
The IS claim should be treated cautiously. The group usually claims an attack very soon afterwards, publishing pictures of those who carried it out on its media portal, Amaq.
But still, the allegation raises the question, what is the NTJ?
Origins
Until Monday, when the Sri Lankan government spokesman mentioned its name, very few people had heard of the NTJ.
The group is believed to have splintered off from another hardline Islamist group in the country, the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath (SLTJ).
While still relatively unknown, the SLTJ is a bit more established. Its secretary, Abdul Razik, was arrested in 2016 for inciting hatred against Buddhists. He later issued an apology.
Some reports have also linked the NTJ to a spate of vandalism last December that targeted Buddhist temples in Mawanella, central Sri Lanka. The faces of Buddha statues that were on display outside the temples were attacked.
But the NTJ is an extremist fringe group within an already small religious minority - only 9.7% of Sri Lanka's population of about 21 million are Muslim.
Its social media presence is sparse, too. Although it has a Facebook page, it is only updated every few weeks or so. The NTJ Twitter feed hasn't updated since March 2018.
The group's website is also offline - although it's not clear if it was taken down before or after Sunday's attacks.
Government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told reporters in Colombo on Monday that there had been "several warnings from foreign intelligence agencies about the impending attacks".
This isn't the only claim that officials had been alerted.
Sri Lankan Telecommunications Minister Harin Fernando tweeted a document that was reportedly sent by Sri Lanka's police chief earlier this month.
That document explicitly names the NTJ - as well as a warning that the group was planning to attack churches and the Indian High Commission.
The document also names Mohamed Zahran, the group's leader.
Alan Keenan, Sri Lanka director for the International Crisis Group think tank, also told BBC 5Live that the NTJ "appears to be the same group" as those behind the Mawanella vandalism.
He added: "The police eventually arrested a group of young men who were said to have been the students of a preacher who's named in the intelligence document that came out yesterday [Sunday]."
Government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne (file photo) named the NTJ as suspects
But given how small NTJ are, officials suspect that it wasn't acting alone.
"We don't see that only a small organisation in this country can do all that," Mr Senaratne said. "We are now investigating the international support for them, and their other links, how they produced the suicide bombers here, and how they produced bombs like this."
And while not naming the NTJ directly, the Sri Lankan president's office echoed this belief that whichever group was behind the attacks had help from abroad.
"The intelligence sections have reported that there are international terror groups which are behind the local terrorists," a statement from President Maithripala Sirisena said. "International assistance will be sought to combat them."
PLEASE NOTE : AS BEING SPECULATED IN SM, IT HAS NOT BEEN LINKED TO THE INDIAN ORGANISATION WITH THE SAME NAME.
ISIS suspect gave advance warning of Sri Lanka bombings, source says
By James Griffiths and Swati Gupta, CNN
Updated 2135 GMT (0535 HKT) April 23, 2019
Colombo, Sri Lanka (CNN)
Early warnings from India's intelligence services to Sri Lankan officials ahead of the Easter Sunday bombings were based on information gleaned from an ISIS suspect, CNN has learned.
Delhi passed on unusually specific intelligence in the weeks and days leading up to the attacks, Sri Lankan officials have said, and at least some of it came from material obtained during interrogations of an ISIS suspect arrested in India, an Indian official told CNN.
The suspect gave investigators the name of a man he had trained, who is associated with a Sri Lankan extremist group implicated in the bombings, the source said. The man, Zahran Hashim, was identified in a video of the purported attackers released Tuesday by ISIS, which claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday killings.
In a statement published by the ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq, the group said the attackers were "fighters of the Islamic State."
A still from the video released by the Amaq news agency, claiming to show the Sri Lanka bombers
The involvement of a foreign organization would explain how a previously marginal domestic extremist group blamed for the attacks, National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ), could have pulled off one of the worst terrorist atrocities since 9/11.
The number of casualties could have been even higher. Authorities said Tuesday that a fourth hotel was among the original targets, but the attack at that location failed. Officials previously said they found an unexploded pipe bomb near Colombo's international airport.
Missed warnings
As investigators scrambled to track down the bombers' associates, there was growing anger in Sri Lanka at the failure to heed the warnings of India's intelligence service.
The first warning came more than two weeks before the attacks. Sri Lankan officials were told on April 4 of a potential plot to launch suicide attacks against Christian churches and tourist spots, government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told reporters on Monday. The warnings were repeated two days and two hours before the attacks, Senaratne said.
Delhi's information came from the interrogation of an ISIS suspect, the Indian source told CNN. "While we were investigating ISIS cases, during the interrogation of an accused, he disclosed the name of a man, Zahran Hashim, who is one of the suicide bombers and is associated with NTJ," said the intelligence source in India. "The suspect said that he played a role in his (Hashim's) radicalization."
Could the Sri Lanka bombings have been stopped?
The Indian intelligence source did not specify when the arrest was made. "Indian intelligence agencies shared their information with their counterparts in Sri Lanka," the source said.
Hashim's name appears on a memo dated April 11 and signed by Sri Lanka's Deputy Inspector General of Police. The memo, a copy of which has been seen by CNN, named Hashim as the leader of the NTJ.
"A certain foreign intelligence service has reported that the leader of the National Tawheed Jamath -- NTJ, Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Zahran, also known as Zahran Hashim and his followers -- have been planning for suicide attacks within Sri Lanka," the memo reads. It was circulated widely to a range of security services and some government ministries.
On Tuesday, a video released by ISIS showed eight men purported to be the Sri Lankan attackers pledging allegiance to the terror group. All of the men have their hands placed together and are masked, except one. That man, identified as Zahran Hashim, is "leading them," according to the caption provided by the Amaq news agency.
A senior Sri Lankan official confirmed the unmasked man in the photograph was Hashim. "Zahran is the mastermind of these attacks. He is the one," said Azath Salley, governor of Sri Lanka's Western Province. "He is the guy who is giving them the ideology and when he talks to people they get convinced," Salley said in an interview with CNN.
In a press conference, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also identified Hashim as part of the plot. "He is expected to be one of the suicide bombers," he said.
Speaking to CNN in Colombo, a former senior police official said the NTJ was known to Sri Lankan authorities for at least two years.
He said the group emerged in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka, and was linked to the vandalizing of Buddhist statues. He said there were indications that the group was growing in size and extremism, and estimated that there are about 100 to 150 members currently in the country.
The former official said the failure to act on intelligence received about the group's plans was "criminally negligent." Specific warnings of the type received by Sri Lanka were "very rare," he said, making the failure to act upon them or spread them more widely even more inexplicable.
A mass funeral at St. Sebastian Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka, where one of the attacks took place.
Investigation gathers pace
Sri Lankan officials said they had arrested dozens of suspects in the past two days. But they admitted that some were still at large. At his news conference in Colombo, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe told reporters that there are "still people on the run with explosives."
Wickremesinghe said investigators were making "good progress" in the investigation "but they need to identify all the culprits and look at what their network is."
A US fifth-grader was at breakfast when he was killed in the Sri Lanka bombings
He admitted that the attacks could have been prevented, if intelligence had been properly shared. "We, if it was known, certainly could have prevented many of the attacks in the churches and have (had) more security in the hotels," Wickremesinghe said.
Sri Lanka has been gripped by political turmoil since the President tried to remove the Prime Minister last year. The Supreme Court intervened and Wickremesinghe was reinstated, but deep divisions had remained. Ministers have accused the President, who is also the country's Defense Minister, of failing to share the intelligence ahead of the attacks.
Wickremesinghe said Tuesday that differences between him and the president had been "thrashed out" and that the priority was now to catch any remaining suspects.
President Maithripala Sirisena said he wasn't aware of the advance warnings, and that if he had been, he could have taken the appropriate measures. "I have to specifically mention that that intelligence was not reported to me by the responsible people," he said in a televised address. "If I had known they had received this intelligence, I could have taken actions accordingly.
Nine people appeared in court after being arrested on suspicion of providing materials used in Sunday's bombs. The nine were arrested in Wellampitya, a northeastern suburb of Colombo, on Monday. They all worked at a copper factory in the area, according to court papers seen by a source at Colombo Magistrates' Court. They are due back in court on May 6.
This article has been updated to reflect that the Indian ISIS source did not specify where he had trained his Sri Lankan associate.
James Griffiths reported from Colombo, Sri Lanka. Swati Gupta reported from New Delhi, India. CNN's Nikhil Kumar and journalist Iqbal Athas contributed reporting from Colombo. CNN's Steve George contributed reporting from Hong Kong.
ISIS suspect gave advance warning of Sri Lanka bombings, source says - CNN
By James Griffiths and Swati Gupta, CNN
Updated 2135 GMT (0535 HKT) April 23, 2019
Colombo, Sri Lanka (CNN)
Early warnings from India's intelligence services to Sri Lankan officials ahead of the Easter Sunday bombings were based on information gleaned from an ISIS suspect, CNN has learned.
Delhi passed on unusually specific intelligence in the weeks and days leading up to the attacks, Sri Lankan officials have said, and at least some of it came from material obtained during interrogations of an ISIS suspect arrested in India, an Indian official told CNN.
The suspect gave investigators the name of a man he had trained, who is associated with a Sri Lankan extremist group implicated in the bombings, the source said. The man, Zahran Hashim, was identified in a video of the purported attackers released Tuesday by ISIS, which claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday killings.
In a statement published by the ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq, the group said the attackers were "fighters of the Islamic State."
A still from the video released by the Amaq news agency, claiming to show the Sri Lanka bombers
The involvement of a foreign organization would explain how a previously marginal domestic extremist group blamed for the attacks, National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ), could have pulled off one of the worst terrorist atrocities since 9/11.
The number of casualties could have been even higher. Authorities said Tuesday that a fourth hotel was among the original targets, but the attack at that location failed. Officials previously said they found an unexploded pipe bomb near Colombo's international airport.
Missed warnings
As investigators scrambled to track down the bombers' associates, there was growing anger in Sri Lanka at the failure to heed the warnings of India's intelligence service.
The first warning came more than two weeks before the attacks. Sri Lankan officials were told on April 4 of a potential plot to launch suicide attacks against Christian churches and tourist spots, government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told reporters on Monday. The warnings were repeated two days and two hours before the attacks, Senaratne said.
Delhi's information came from the interrogation of an ISIS suspect, the Indian source told CNN. "While we were investigating ISIS cases, during the interrogation of an accused, he disclosed the name of a man, Zahran Hashim, who is one of the suicide bombers and is associated with NTJ," said the intelligence source in India. "The suspect said that he played a role in his (Hashim's) radicalization."
Could the Sri Lanka bombings have been stopped?
The Indian intelligence source did not specify when the arrest was made. "Indian intelligence agencies shared their information with their counterparts in Sri Lanka," the source said.
Hashim's name appears on a memo dated April 11 and signed by Sri Lanka's Deputy Inspector General of Police. The memo, a copy of which has been seen by CNN, named Hashim as the leader of the NTJ.
"A certain foreign intelligence service has reported that the leader of the National Tawheed Jamath -- NTJ, Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Zahran, also known as Zahran Hashim and his followers -- have been planning for suicide attacks within Sri Lanka," the memo reads. It was circulated widely to a range of security services and some government ministries.
On Tuesday, a video released by ISIS showed eight men purported to be the Sri Lankan attackers pledging allegiance to the terror group. All of the men have their hands placed together and are masked, except one. That man, identified as Zahran Hashim, is "leading them," according to the caption provided by the Amaq news agency.
A senior Sri Lankan official confirmed the unmasked man in the photograph was Hashim. "Zahran is the mastermind of these attacks. He is the one," said Azath Salley, governor of Sri Lanka's Western Province. "He is the guy who is giving them the ideology and when he talks to people they get convinced," Salley said in an interview with CNN.
In a press conference, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also identified Hashim as part of the plot. "He is expected to be one of the suicide bombers," he said.
Speaking to CNN in Colombo, a former senior police official said the NTJ was known to Sri Lankan authorities for at least two years.
He said the group emerged in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka, and was linked to the vandalizing of Buddhist statues. He said there were indications that the group was growing in size and extremism, and estimated that there are about 100 to 150 members currently in the country.
The former official said the failure to act on intelligence received about the group's plans was "criminally negligent." Specific warnings of the type received by Sri Lanka were "very rare," he said, making the failure to act upon them or spread them more widely even more inexplicable.
A mass funeral at St. Sebastian Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka, where one of the attacks took place.
Investigation gathers pace
Sri Lankan officials said they had arrested dozens of suspects in the past two days. But they admitted that some were still at large. At his news conference in Colombo, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe told reporters that there are "still people on the run with explosives."
Wickremesinghe said investigators were making "good progress" in the investigation "but they need to identify all the culprits and look at what their network is."
A US fifth-grader was at breakfast when he was killed in the Sri Lanka bombings
He admitted that the attacks could have been prevented, if intelligence had been properly shared. "We, if it was known, certainly could have prevented many of the attacks in the churches and have (had) more security in the hotels," Wickremesinghe said.
Sri Lanka has been gripped by political turmoil since the President tried to remove the Prime Minister last year. The Supreme Court intervened and Wickremesinghe was reinstated, but deep divisions had remained. Ministers have accused the President, who is also the country's Defense Minister, of failing to share the intelligence ahead of the attacks.
Wickremesinghe said Tuesday that differences between him and the president had been "thrashed out" and that the priority was now to catch any remaining suspects.
President Maithripala Sirisena said he wasn't aware of the advance warnings, and that if he had been, he could have taken the appropriate measures. "I have to specifically mention that that intelligence was not reported to me by the responsible people," he said in a televised address. "If I had known they had received this intelligence, I could have taken actions accordingly.
Nine people appeared in court after being arrested on suspicion of providing materials used in Sunday's bombs. The nine were arrested in Wellampitya, a northeastern suburb of Colombo, on Monday. They all worked at a copper factory in the area, according to court papers seen by a source at Colombo Magistrates' Court. They are due back in court on May 6.
This article has been updated to reflect that the Indian ISIS source did not specify where he had trained his Sri Lankan associate.
James Griffiths reported from Colombo, Sri Lanka. Swati Gupta reported from New Delhi, India. CNN's Nikhil Kumar and journalist Iqbal Athas contributed reporting from Colombo. CNN's Steve George contributed reporting from Hong Kong.
ISIS suspect gave advance warning of Sri Lanka bombings, source says - CNN
Meanwhile :
Communal Tensions In Sri Lanka After Blasts, Muslim Refugees Flee
Crammed into buses organised by community leaders and police, hundreds of Pakistani Muslims left fearing for their safety after threats of revenge from locals.
World | Reuters | Updated: April 25, 2019 11:52 IST
Pakistan refugees rest inside a mosque in Negombo, Sri Lanka. (Reuters)
NEGOMBO:
As mourners buried the remains of Christian worshippers killed by the Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks in Sri Lanka, hundreds of Muslim refugees fled Negombo on the country's west coast where communal tensions have flared in recent days.
At least 359 people died in the coordinated series of blasts targeting churches and hotels. Church leaders believe the final toll from the attack on St Sebastian's Church in Negombo could be close to 200, almost certainly making Negombo the deadliest of the six near-simultaneous attacks.
On Wednesday, hundreds of Pakistani Muslims fled the multi-ethnic port an hour north of the capital, Colombo. Crammed into buses organised by community leaders and police, they left fearing for their safety after threats of revenge from locals.
"Because of the bomb blasts and explosions that have taken place here, the local Sri Lankan people have attacked our houses," Adnan Ali, a Pakistani Muslim, told Reuters as he prepared to board a bus. "Right now we don't know where we will go."
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks, yet despite the group being a Sunni group, many of the Muslims fleeing Negombo belong to the Ahmadi community, who had been hounded out of Pakistan years ago after their sect was declared non-Muslim.
The fallout from Sunday's attacks appears set to render them homeless once more.
Farah Jameel, a Pakistani Ahmadi, said she had been thrown out of her house by her landlord.
"She said 'get out of here and go wherever you want to go, but don't live here'," she told Reuters, gathered with many others at the Ahmadiyya Mosque, waiting for buses to take them to a safe location.
"I Have Nothing Now"
Sri Lanka's government is in disarray over the failure to prevent the attacks, despite repeated warnings from intelligence sources.
Police have detained an unspecified number of people in western Sri Lanka, the scene of anti-Muslim riots in 2014, in the wake of the attacks, and raids were carried out in neighbourhoods around St Sebastian's Church.
Police played down the threats to the refugees, but said they have been inundated with calls from locals casting suspicion on Pakistanis in Negombo.
"We have to search houses if people suspect," said Herath BSS Sisila Kumara, the officer in charge at Katara police station, where 35 of the Pakistanis that gathered at the mosque were taken into police custody for their own protection, before being sent to an undisclosed location.
"All the Pakistanis have been sent to safe houses," he said. "Only they will decide when they come back."
Civil Defence Force official keeps watch outside Negombo Grand Mosque in Sri Lanka. (Reuters)
Two kilometres away, makeshift wooden crosses marked the new graves at the sandy cemetery of St Sebastian's Church, as the latest funerals on Wednesday took the number buried there to 40.
Channa Repunjaya, 49, was at home when he heard about the blast at St Sebastian's. His wife, Chandralata Dassanaike and nine-year-old daughter Meeranhi both died.
"I felt like committing suicide when I heard that they had died," he told Reuters by the open graves. "I have nothing now."
Meeranhi's grandmother, with her head still bandaged after being wounded in the attack, was held by a relative as the first handfuls of earth were scattered upon her child-sized coffin.
Most of Sri Lanka's 22 million people are Buddhist, but the Indian Ocean island's population includes Muslim, Hindu and Christian minorities. Until now, Christians had largely managed to avoid the worst of the island's conflict and communal tensions.
There were signs of some religious communities pulling together following Sunday's outrage.
Saffron- and scarlet-robed Buddhist monks from a nearby monastery handed out bottled water to mourners who gathered under a baking afternoon sun.
But the town, which has a long history of sheltering refugees - including those made homeless by a devastating tsunami in 2004 - may struggle to recover from Sunday's violence, said Father Jude Thomas, one of dozens of Catholic priests who attended Wednesday's burials.
"Muslims and Catholics lived side by side," he said. "It was always a peaceful area, but now things have come to the surface we cannot control."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Communal Tensions In Sri Lanka After Blasts, Muslim Refugees Flee
Communal Tensions In Sri Lanka After Blasts, Muslim Refugees Flee
Crammed into buses organised by community leaders and police, hundreds of Pakistani Muslims left fearing for their safety after threats of revenge from locals.
World | Reuters | Updated: April 25, 2019 11:52 IST
Pakistan refugees rest inside a mosque in Negombo, Sri Lanka. (Reuters)
NEGOMBO:
As mourners buried the remains of Christian worshippers killed by the Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks in Sri Lanka, hundreds of Muslim refugees fled Negombo on the country's west coast where communal tensions have flared in recent days.
At least 359 people died in the coordinated series of blasts targeting churches and hotels. Church leaders believe the final toll from the attack on St Sebastian's Church in Negombo could be close to 200, almost certainly making Negombo the deadliest of the six near-simultaneous attacks.
On Wednesday, hundreds of Pakistani Muslims fled the multi-ethnic port an hour north of the capital, Colombo. Crammed into buses organised by community leaders and police, they left fearing for their safety after threats of revenge from locals.
"Because of the bomb blasts and explosions that have taken place here, the local Sri Lankan people have attacked our houses," Adnan Ali, a Pakistani Muslim, told Reuters as he prepared to board a bus. "Right now we don't know where we will go."
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks, yet despite the group being a Sunni group, many of the Muslims fleeing Negombo belong to the Ahmadi community, who had been hounded out of Pakistan years ago after their sect was declared non-Muslim.
The fallout from Sunday's attacks appears set to render them homeless once more.
Farah Jameel, a Pakistani Ahmadi, said she had been thrown out of her house by her landlord.
"She said 'get out of here and go wherever you want to go, but don't live here'," she told Reuters, gathered with many others at the Ahmadiyya Mosque, waiting for buses to take them to a safe location.
"I Have Nothing Now"
Sri Lanka's government is in disarray over the failure to prevent the attacks, despite repeated warnings from intelligence sources.
Police have detained an unspecified number of people in western Sri Lanka, the scene of anti-Muslim riots in 2014, in the wake of the attacks, and raids were carried out in neighbourhoods around St Sebastian's Church.
Police played down the threats to the refugees, but said they have been inundated with calls from locals casting suspicion on Pakistanis in Negombo.
"We have to search houses if people suspect," said Herath BSS Sisila Kumara, the officer in charge at Katara police station, where 35 of the Pakistanis that gathered at the mosque were taken into police custody for their own protection, before being sent to an undisclosed location.
"All the Pakistanis have been sent to safe houses," he said. "Only they will decide when they come back."
Civil Defence Force official keeps watch outside Negombo Grand Mosque in Sri Lanka. (Reuters)
Two kilometres away, makeshift wooden crosses marked the new graves at the sandy cemetery of St Sebastian's Church, as the latest funerals on Wednesday took the number buried there to 40.
Channa Repunjaya, 49, was at home when he heard about the blast at St Sebastian's. His wife, Chandralata Dassanaike and nine-year-old daughter Meeranhi both died.
"I felt like committing suicide when I heard that they had died," he told Reuters by the open graves. "I have nothing now."
Meeranhi's grandmother, with her head still bandaged after being wounded in the attack, was held by a relative as the first handfuls of earth were scattered upon her child-sized coffin.
Most of Sri Lanka's 22 million people are Buddhist, but the Indian Ocean island's population includes Muslim, Hindu and Christian minorities. Until now, Christians had largely managed to avoid the worst of the island's conflict and communal tensions.
There were signs of some religious communities pulling together following Sunday's outrage.
Saffron- and scarlet-robed Buddhist monks from a nearby monastery handed out bottled water to mourners who gathered under a baking afternoon sun.
But the town, which has a long history of sheltering refugees - including those made homeless by a devastating tsunami in 2004 - may struggle to recover from Sunday's violence, said Father Jude Thomas, one of dozens of Catholic priests who attended Wednesday's burials.
"Muslims and Catholics lived side by side," he said. "It was always a peaceful area, but now things have come to the surface we cannot control."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Communal Tensions In Sri Lanka After Blasts, Muslim Refugees Flee
Yep and Pakistan will provide help to Sri Lanka like it provided help to us on 26/11 and Pathankot attack investigation.
Exclusive: ‘Will seek Pakistan help to trace terrorists if needed’: Sri Lanka PM
Exclusive: ‘Will seek Pakistan help to trace terrorists if needed’: Sri Lanka PM
Good lord ! What did I just read. 
Killed the unborn baby.
Sri Lanka blasts: Fatima Ibrahim identified as one of the suicide bombers; wife of SL millionaire blew self up with unborn child - Firstpost
Killed the unborn baby.Sri Lanka blasts: Fatima Ibrahim identified as one of the suicide bombers; wife of SL millionaire blew self up with unborn child - Firstpost
Guys somethings up in Sri Lanka.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.56bc3eda7c4e
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.56bc3eda7c4e
My god, the latest reports from Srilanka show gun battles between terrorists and security forces. How deep have they penetrated in Srilankan society? And that too completely undetected.
did you read the story where tthe mother blew up a bomb killing her own two children when the police tried to raid the place.WHO ARE THESE LUNATICS?