ISIS claimed responsibility Tuesday morning for the coordinated Sri Lanka Easter bombings as the death toll in the massacre has risen to 321.
The international terror group tweeted via its propaganda wing that the violence was carried out by “fighters of the Islamic State,” reports said. It later put out a second message naming the alleged bombers and the sites they targeted.
The terror group’s assertion comes amid Sri Lanka’s minister of defense claiming the bombings at multiple churches and hotels in Colombo were “carried out in retaliation” for attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15 by an apparent white supremacist gunman.
Sri Lankan officials also have blamed the domestic militant group National Thowfeek Jamaath for the bombings and authorities revealed the little-known outfit likely received assistance in carrying out the horrific plot.
But Sri Lanka’s government has not produced evidence directly linking the attacks to the massacre in New Zealand, or to National Thowfeek Jamaath. – READ MORE