Picture emerges of well-to-do young bombers behind Sri Lankan carnage

[webfact]

Picture emerges of well-to-do young bombers behind Sri Lankan carnage

By Sanjeev Miglani and Joe Brock

 

A group of men purported to be the the Sri Lanka bomb attackers is seen at an unknown location in this still image taken from video uploaded by the Islamic State's AMAQ news agency April 23, 2019 and received by Reuters via SITE Intel Group. Video uploaded April 23, 2019. AMAQ via SITE INTEL GROUP/Handout via REUTERS TV

 

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Details began to emerge in Sri Lanka on Wednesday of a band of nine, well-educated Islamist suicide bombers, including a woman, from well-to-do families who slaughtered 359 people in Easter Sunday bomb attacks.

 

The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the coordinated attacks on three churches and four hotels. If that connection is confirmed, the attacks looks likely to be the deadliest ever linked to the group.

 

Both the Sri Lankan government and the United States said the scale and sophistication of the coordinated bombings suggested the involvement of an external group such as Islamic State.

 

The Islamist group released a video late on Tuesday through its AMAQ news agency, showing eight men, all but one with their faces covered, standing under a black Islamic State flag, declaring loyalty to its leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.

 

The one man in the video with his face uncovered was Mohamed Zahran, a Sri Lankan preacher known for militant views.

 

While the video showed eight men, Sri Lanka's junior defence minister, Ruwan Wijewardene, said there were nine suicide bombers. Eight had been identified and one of them was a woman, he said.

 

"Most of the bombers are well-educated, come from economically strong families. Some of them went abroad for studies," Wijewardene told a news conference.

 

"One of them we know went to the UK, then went to Australia for a law degree. Foreign partners, including the UK, are helping us with those investigations."

 

Two of the bombers were brothers, sons of a wealthy spice trader and pillar of the business community, a source close to the family said.

 

Intelligence officials and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe believe that Zahran, a Tamil-speaking preacher from the east of the Indian Ocean island country, may have been the mastermind.

 

He was well-known for his militant views and fiery Facebook posts, according to Muslim leaders and aSri Lankan intelligence report issued earlier and seen by Reuters.

 

The government suspects two Sri Lankan Islamist groups - the National Thawheed Jama'ut, of which Zahran was believed to have been a member, and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim - were responsible, with outside help.

 

GRAPHIC: Sri Lanka bombings -

 

MISSED WARNINGS

The early Sunday bombings shattered the relative calm that has existed in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka since a civil war against mostly Hindu, ethnic Tamil separatists ended 10 years ago, and raised fears of a return to sectarian violence.

 

Sri Lanka's 22 million people include minority Christians, Muslims and Hindus. Until now, Christians had largely managed to avoid the worst of the island's conflict and communal tensions.

 

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and military were also supporting the investigation into possible foreign connections, the U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina Teplitz, told reporters.

 

"If you look at the scale of the attacks, the level of coordination, the sophistication of them, it's not implausible to think there are foreign linkages," Teplitz said.

 

As well as the huge death toll, 500 people were wounded in the worst ever such militant attack in South Asia.

 

It has also exposed a significant Sri Lankan intelligence failure, with warnings of strikes not acted on and feuds at the highest levels of government.

"It is a major lapse in the sharing of intelligence information," Wijewardene said. "We have to take responsibility."

 

Lakshman Kiriella, the leader of parliament, said senior officials had deliberately withheld intelligenceabout possible attacks.

 

"The top brass security officials did not take appropriate actions," Kiriella, who is also minister of public enterprise, told parliament.

 

He said information about possible attacks was received from Indian intelligence on April 4 and a Security Council meeting was chaired by President Maithripala Sirisena three days later, but it was not shared more widely.

 

Sirisena has said his office never received the Indian report. The prime minister also had not been told of warnings of an attack, a minister said.

 

The president fired Prime Minister Wickremesinghe last October over political differences, only to reinstate him weeks later under pressure from the Supreme Court.

 

Two sources close to the president said he had asked the police chief and defence secretary to resign.

 

'CHECKING ON MUSLIM AREAS'

A total of 60 people have been detained for questioning across Colombo, Wijewardene said. That total includes a Syrian, according to security sources.

 

Raids included areas near the Gothic-style St Sebastian church in Negombo, north of the capital, where scores were killed on Sunday, a police spokesman said.

 

An unspecified number of people were detained in western Sri Lanka, the scene of anti-Muslim riots in 2014.

 

"Search operations are going on everywhere, there is tight checking of Muslim areas," a security source said.

 

Most of those killed and wounded were Sri Lankans, although officials said 38 foreigners were also killed. That included British, U.S., Australian, Turkish, Indian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch and Portuguese nationals. Forty-five children were among the dead.

 

The government has imposed emergency rule and an overnight curfew. It said it has also blocked online messaging services to stop the spread of inflammatory rumours that it feared could incite communal clashes.

 

(Reporting by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Paul Tait, Robert Birsel and Alex Richardson)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-04-25

[Thainesss]

Radical Islam is one of the biggest and most open threats to modern society. They have a news agency. They have money. They have guns and high explosives. They are intent on killing and maiming ANYONE, women, children, innocents, bystanders, you name it, and they will do it by literally blowing themselves up just to get them.

 

20 minutes ago, webfact said:

The one man in the video with his face uncovered was Mohamed Zahran, a Sri Lankan preacher known for militant views.

 

And no-one did anything about it. Not the muslim community itself, and not the gov. 

 

20 minutes ago, webfact said:

"Most of the bombers are well-educated, come from economically strong families. Some of them went abroad for studies,"

 

Says alot about radicalization. 

[simple1]

16 minutes ago, Thainesss said:

And no-one did anything about it. Not the muslim community itself, and not the gov. <SNIP>

Better fact check before posting...

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-22/sri-lanka-muslims-had-warned-officials-about-group-behind-attack

 

Two senior Buddhist members of the Sri Lanka government failed to act appropriately on the warning of a potential Islamist attack, some reports claim due to political conflict between them - why? The question is under investigation. For the meantime, firing of Defence officials and others is under way.

[Puchaiyank]

Muslims have once again shown the world their brand of religion and diplomacy...

[Thainesss]

7 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Better fact check before posting...

 

The muslim community did nothing. Most of the community sat around and ignored these psychos talking complete insanity on social media behind banners of blood and knives and talking about killing non believers. 

 

The fastest way to get a hold of extremism is for the muslim community to do it from the inside yet nobody does anything about it. Including you apparently, choosing instead to provide cover and sympathy and denial all the way up until the bitter end and beyond. 

 

15 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Two senior Buddhist members of the Sri Lanka government failed to act appropriately on the warning of a potential Islamist attack, some reports claim due to political conflict between them - why? The question is under investigation.

 

No, you don't get to hang the blame elsewhere. Extremists did this, and they were muslim, and blaming the Buddhist members of the government for it is a pathetic cop out and deflection. 

[simple1]

12 minutes ago, Thainesss said:

 

The muslim community did nothing. Most of the community sat around and ignored these psychos talking complete insanity on social media behind banners of blood and knives and talking about killing non believers. 

 

The fastest way to get a hold of extremism is for the muslim community to do it from the inside yet nobody does anything about it. Including you apparently, choosing instead to provide cover and sympathy and denial all the way up until the bitter end and beyond. 

 

 

No, you don't get to hang the blame elsewhere. Extremists did this, and they were muslim, and blaming the Buddhist members of the government for it is a pathetic cop out and deflection. 

You ignore facts & make hyperbolic assertions, plus continue with personal attacks. The question of lack of action by senior members of the Sri Lanka government is being queried by members of the government itself, it is not a 'cop out', but a matter of fact.

 

I will not respond to your lack of knowledge any more as likely will again lose posting rights

[Jingthing]

It's significant (in a very bad way) that these terrorists came from privileged backgrounds. When it's poor uneducated people doing suicide attacks it's easy to rationalize that they were victims themselves and exploited. But this is different.

[toenail]

BBC: “Sri Lanka has admitted a "major intelligence lapse" before the Easter Sunday bomb attacks which killed 359 people and wounded more than 500.”

I have vacationed Sri Lanka twice-beautiful beaches & countryside. And very few Muslim population ( around 7%); Christians: about 7-8%. 

While visiting the poor country one does observe how it lacks good government organization which is common in developing countries.

Though the various police departments did receive memos about the threats I wonder if they were lackadaisical because the targets were Christians & Westerners- not Buddhist. I still can’t understand how no security action was taken before hand....

Well, the dysfunctional government now has to face reality how over 300 lives could have been saved and the lost of tourist revenue. 

[welovesundaysatspace]

2 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

Muslims have once again shown the world their brand of religion and diplomacy...

Like the Christians have done before?

 

2 hours ago, Thainesss said:

The muslim community did nothing.

Like the Christian community did nothing in Christchurch?

 

 

 

[Orton Rd]

I do not believe there is a radical Islam or that these jihadists were extremist. They were merely doing what the Quran instructs them to do and living by the example of Mohammad. We are just lucky most believers would rather stay at home and cheer from the sidelines.

[Thainesss]

7 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Like the Christian community did nothing in Christchurch?

 

The NZ shooter never, not once, claimed to be christian, and not once, even remotely, claimed that he was murdering on behalf of the Christian faith. 

 

As opposed to these NINE muslims who exploded themselves IN THE NAME of radical islam and slaughtered 361 innocent people - all the while broadcasting themselves behind literal banners of blood and murder talking about murdering non-believers of islam. 

[Orton Rd]

Apologists and deflectors always eventually drag Christians into the discussion on Islamic attacks. Usually obscure passages in the old testament pre dating Christianity will be dragged up, as well as the totally justified crusades of course, which only took place after 300 years of Islamic aggression and conquering Christian lands.

[welovesundaysatspace]

Just now, Thainesss said:

As opposed to these NINE muslims who exploded themselves IN THE NAME of radical islam and slaughtered 361 innocent people

Wait, you mean they got permission from all the millions of muslims in the world to kill on their behalf or how do you explode yourself “in the name” of the Islam? 

 

 

[Orton Rd]

4 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Wait, you mean they got permission from all the millions of muslims in the world to kill on their behalf or how do you explode yourself “in the name” of the Islam? 

 

 

They only need permission from Allah, and that is the word of God in the Quran. I could post all the verses but then somebody would say you need to read it in Arabic, that's taken out of context or you have to be a Muslim to understand it. They understand it gives them permission to kill unbelievers and trouble makers and that the fight goes on until the whole world is Muslim. They believe we are all born Muslim and everyone else is wrong and has to be brought into Islam again. To die for them in Jihad is a great honour, not a sacrifice.

[VocalNeal]

2 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

Muslims have once again shown the world their brand of religion and diplomacy...

It is my considered opinion that Islam is not purely a religion in the accepted sense. It is a political ideology cloaked in religion. Do what we say, act as we say or else.

[welovesundaysatspace]

17 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

Apologists and deflectors always eventually drag Christians into the discussion on Islamic attacks. Usually obscure passages in the old testament pre dating Christianity will be dragged up, as well as the totally justified crusades of course, which only took place after 300 years of Islamic aggression and conquering Christian lands.

Well, I think when some can blame million of innocent people for the terror of a few, I think I can do the same just to expose how those far-right idiots are trying to exploit events like this for their own ideology. 

[welovesundaysatspace]

12 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

They only need permission from Allah, and that is the word of God in the Quran. I could post all the verses but then somebody would say you need to read it in Arabic, that's taken out of context or you have to be a Muslim to understand it. They understand it gives them permission to kill unbelievers and trouble makers and that the fight goes on until the whole world is Muslim. They believe we are all born Muslim and everyone else is wrong and has to be brought into Islam again. To die for them in Jihad is a great honour, not a sacrifice.

Okay, so they didn’t get permission from all the millions of innocent people that you’re trying to blame when you claim a couple of terrorists killed “in the name of” or “on behalf of” all Muslims. Of course they didn’t, you’re just trying to abuse a sad event like this for your own fascist agenda. 

[Orton Rd]

11 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Well, I think when some can blame million of innocent people for the terror of a few, I think I can do the same just to expose how those far-right idiots are trying to exploit events like this for their own ideology. 

You make the usual mistake of mixing up the religion and the followers. The violence and intolerance originates in the doctrine, and not the irrelevant majority

[Orton Rd]

8 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Okay, so they didn’t get permission from all the millions of innocent people that you’re trying to blame when you claim a couple of terrorists killed “in the name of” or “on behalf of” all Muslims. Of course they didn’t, you’re just trying to abuse a sad event like this for your own fascist agenda. 

So I have a 'fascist agenda' for pointing out the what motivates jihad? I think you need to look up the meaning of that over used word. it's just used by people to close down people with other opinions. I blame the religious texts and the life of Mohammad for Jihad, not the irrelevant majority. However, the majority of those not involved still agree with the actions of the few.

[gunderhill]

This is  where "belief" gets  you without evidence.

[Kasane]

Nothing new here. Muslims and Christians have been at it since the camels started frolicking in the desert sand. 

[Orton Rd]

6 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

This is  where "belief" gets  you without evidence.

The Hadith, collected by Bukhari (4.52.220) goes as follows:
 

Allah's Apostle said, "I have been sent with the shortest expressions bearing the widest meanings, and I have been made victorious with terror (cast in the hearts of the enemy), and while I was sleeping, the keys of the treasures of the world were brought to me and put in my hand."

 

Out of context? not if you study what he did and what he pretended to have been told by God. Compare the context of what Christ said and did. Mohammad was a self confessed terrorist, this is who they follow.

 

[gunderhill]

2 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

The Hadith, collected by Bukhari (4.52.220) goes as follows:
 

Allah's Apostle said, "I have been sent with the shortest expressions bearing the widest meanings, and I have been made victorious with terror (cast in the hearts of the enemy), and while I was sleeping, the keys of the treasures of the world were brought to me and put in my hand."

 

Out of context? not if you study what he did and what he pretended to have been told by God. Compare the context of what Christ said and did. Mohammad was a self confessed terrorist, this is who they follow.

 

They're  all  nuts Christian or Muslim.

[simple1]

3 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

The Hadith, collected by Bukhari (4.52.220) goes as follows:
 

Allah's Apostle said, "I have been sent with the shortest expressions bearing the widest meanings, and I have been made victorious with terror (cast in the hearts of the enemy), and while I was sleeping, the keys of the treasures of the world were brought to me and put in my hand."

 

Out of context? not if you study what he did and what he pretended to have been told by God. Compare the context of what Christ said and did. Mohammad was a self confessed terrorist, this is who they follow.

 

<deleted> there are passages in the Koran which specifically forbid the killing of innocents, women and children and so on. You could go on all day with selecting from various Islamic sources passages to support an agenda from different POVs. The bottom line is some Islamist leaders do the same are you're doings as a component of radicalisation. Western intelligence agencies have requested to stop exactly what you're doing on social media and other channels. Support their efforts.

[Kasane]

4 hours ago, Thainesss said:

Radical Islam is one of the biggest and most open threats to modern society. They have a news agency. They have money. They have guns and high explosives. They are intent on killing and maiming ANYONE, women, children, innocents, bystanders, you name it, and they will do it by literally blowing themselves up just to get them. 

You got it backwards. Radical Islam only kills in small (relatively) numbers. Satanic christian nations,  through economic terrorism kill, deprive, maim, bomb millions in countries that do not bend to their will so that they can loot the wealth of those countries.

[Thainesss]

12 minutes ago, simple1 said:

<deleted> there are passages in the Koran which specifically forbid the killing of innocents, women and children and so on.

 

What about infidels? 

[bert bloggs]

islam has only one objective,to be the only religion in the world ,marry a muslim ,then you must become one , and not just for a short time so that you can get married ,eventually you and then your children and your childrens children are muslim , I have no time for religion ,but at least Jesus preached ,forgivness and to turn the other cheek ,mohamed,,was a warlord who killed and killed ,his wife had divorced him so he married a six year old girl ,thats it.

[Vacuum]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Most of the bombers are well-educated

As they think there's a god, I call it BS.

[welovesundaysatspace]

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

You make the usual mistake of mixing up the religion and the followers. The violence and intolerance originates in the doctrine, and not the irrelevant majority

The only people “mixing up” are those that mix up the acts of terrorists with the vast majority of innocent people just because they have the same religion. Thus me doing the same with Christian religion and terrorists who have Christian religion 

 

58 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

So I have a 'fascist agenda' for pointing out the what motivates jihad? I think you need to look up the meaning of that over used word. it's just used by people to close down people with other opinions. I blame the religious texts and the life of Mohammad for Jihad, not the irrelevant majority. However, the majority of those not involved still agree with the actions of the few.

The fascist agenda is abusing terrorist acts like this to spread hatred against all Muslims. Again, you wouldn’t want the same to be done the other way round, declaring all Christians or white men for the acts a few commit. 

[nobodysfriend]

3 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

I do not believe there is a radical Islam or that these jihadists were extremist. They were merely doing what the Quran instructs them to do and living by the example of Mohammad. We are just lucky most believers would rather stay at home and cheer from the sidelines.

Sorry , but this is BS ... Have you ever been to an islamic country ? The majority of people are just hard working people and not extremists .

Of course , they pray to Allah and their prophet , but they are not placing bombs in Christian churchs.

A muslim who does that is definitly an extremist .

Generalizations are never good .