A Sri Lankan defense official said Tuesday that an initial investigation has determined the Easter bombings were carried out in retaliation for the shooting attacks at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that left 50 people dead last month.
Clergymen carry coffins for burial during a funeral service April 23 for Easter Sunday bomb blast victims at St. Sebastian Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka.
against churches and high-end hotels, was the first indication from officials that the attackers, including seven suicide bombers, were motivated by events beyond this island nation’s borders.Officials raised the death toll in the bombings to 321, with hundreds wounded. The day began with a three-minute period of silence at 8:30 a.m., the time of the first bombing.
Sri Lanka’s unstable coalition government has also traded blame over the failure to intercept the assailants, with some ministers accusing intelligence and security agencies of neglecting to act on information from foreign allies, including India, indicating a possible terrorist attack. Blank said the claim seemed like “misdirection” by the Sri Lankan government as it grapples for the first time with an attack of this magnitude.
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