As the death toll in Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday bomb attacks rises to 359 people, a report has surfaced saying that one of nine bombers who detonated explosives was a woman. According to Reuters, on Wednesday, Sri Lanka’s deputy defence minister Ruwan Wijewardene told reporters that One of the nine bombers that detonated explosives in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday was a woman.
A top official told the news agency PTI that nine suicide bombers, including a woman, were involved in the massive Easter Sunday bombings and 60 people have been arrested so far for their suspected links to Sri Lanka’s worst terror attack that killed at least 359 people. Suicide bombers, believed to be members of local Islamist extremist group, carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka.
The state minister of defence Ruwan Wijewardena said the multiple bomb attacks were carried out not by the National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ) but by its splinter group. Sri Lanka’s government had earlier blamed the blasts on the NTJ. Wijewardena told reporters that the members of the group had differences and the final attack was carried out by a group that left the main NTJ.
The Islamic State terror group has claimed the attack, although it did not provide direct evidence of its involvement. Wijewardena said there was no evidence at present whether the splinter group had any foreign connections. Out of the nine suicide bombers, eight have been identified by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Police Spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said.
(Inputs from Agencies)
