SL serial blasts: Islamic State claims responsibility

2019-04-23 16:34:08

Hyderabad: The Islamic State on Tuesday has claimed the responsibility for the series bomb blasts in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday in which more than 300 people were killed and over 500 injured.  

A statement on the Amaq news agency, which the group uses to put out statements, claimed that the attack was the work of "fighters of the Islamic State".

The group did not provide any evidence to support the claim.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan media broadcast the video in which a bomb suspect walking into St Anthony's Shrine and St Sebastian church in Colombo, shortly before one of Sunday's explosions.

Four seconds into the footage, a man walks into shot, wearing a blue shirt and a backpack.

The man then cuts across the queue and enters the building.

It was not immediately possible to identify the man or assess whether he had any involvement in the bombings.

Sri Lanka's state of minister of defence said Tuesday the attacks, which killed more than 300 people, were carried out by an "Islamist fundamentalist group" in response to the mosque attacks in New Zealand.