The Sri Lanka Easter Sunday attacks that have killed over 320 people were carried out by local extremists as a retaliation to the Christchurch mosque attacks in New Zealand, Sri Lankan Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said on Tuesday. The Defence Minister was addressing the Parliament on the probe into the terrorist bombings and stated that intelligence on the attacks was received beforehand but it was never passed onto the Prime Minister or the Defence Minister or even acted upon.
Addressing the Parliament, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that the group was trained and the attack was planned with great secrecy. The security forces are committed to apprehending those involved and linked to the attacks and that Emergency regulations have been given to empower security forces to apprehend and detain those accused.
Former President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa held the government responsible for the attacks and stated that a government that cannot ensure the safety of its citizens is of no use. "When I handed over the government it was free of terrorism. No such attack would have happened on our watch," he said, as per reports. He, however, denied that he had any prior information about the attacks and said that he would have informed the authorities if he had.
The Sri Lankan Defence Minister told the Parliament that the current death toll in the attacks stood at 321 and 521 people have been injured in the eight suicide attacks, three of which were carried out inside churches while Easter celebrations were underway. The Parliament observed a two-minute silence for the victims of the attacks before the session commenced.
Twenty-six people have been arrested in connection with the attack which the Sri Lankan government said was carried out by a local outfit National Thowheed Jamath. The attacks came just over a month after gunmen opened fire at two mosques in New Zealand’s Christchurch city on March 15, killing around 50 people.