write a report about the terrorist attack of mosque in Srilanka.
Answers
More than 300 people have been killed in simultaneous explosions at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that also injured some 500 victims. The coordinated attacks took place on Sunday morning.
According to media reports, there were eight blasts in all, including at churches in Negombo and Kochchikade in the country’s west, and Batticaloa in the east. Three luxury hotels in the capital Colombo were also targeted.
Sri Lanka’s government says the attacks were carried out by National Thowheeth Jamaath, a little-known radical Islamist group. Colombo has declared an indefinite national curfew and blocked social media networks such as Facebook and WhatsApp in order to prevent the spread of rumors that might spark intercommunal violence, as happened in March 2018 when Buddhist mobs attacked Muslim mosques, businesses, and homes.
Forty suspects have been detained in connection with the bombings. On Tuesday, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks but authorities have not confirmed the group’s involvement.
Answer:
The serial bomb attacks on Easter Sunday, which claimed over 320 lives in Sri Lanka, were a retaliation for the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand on March 15, State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene told Parliament on Tuesday, based on “initial evidence” available with investigators.
Also on Tuesday, over 48 hours after the coordinated blasts, the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack, media reports said, citing the group’s AMAQ news agency. Sri Lanka had on Monday said a local Islamist radical organisation, the National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ), was responsible for the attacks but suspected it had links with international groups.
“Those that carried out the attack that targeted members of the U.S.-led coalition and Christians in Sri Lanka the day before yesterday are Islamic State group fighters,” a statement released by AMAQ said, according to the news agency AFP.
At least 45 children were killed in the blasts, UNICEF said. Among those killed were 34 foreign nationals, including 10 Indians. The family of one of the victims is yet to establish contact with Indian mission. One more victim is believed to be Indian but the person’s identity yet to be ascertained, according to Colombo-based official sources.
Alert for more attacks
Even as Sri Lanka tried coming to terms with the brutal killings, holding mass funerals in Negombo near Colombo, and special prayer services, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe indicated that the threat of further attacks remained. The police and military remained on high alert after reports of an unidentified container truck and a van in Colombo, believed to be carrying explosives.