Addresses of possible assassins were known – what went wrong?

In Sri Lanka is thought of more than 320 victims of the terrorist attacks of Sunday. The flags were put at half-mast, at 8.30 PM (local time) were held three minutes of silence – at the same time, so, as on Sunday, the first bomb was exploded. The first victims have already been buried, in the town of Negombo, there was a mass funeral, and dozens more funerals will follow.

The government is making the previously little-known Islamist group National Thoweeth Jama’ath (NTJ) is responsible for the attacks. Already before the official Declaration of the head of the Investigation against our correspondent had spoken in front of a place of "Muslim extremists". According to government figures, have blown up a total of seven sri Lankan suicide bomber in three churches and three luxury hotels in the air.

claim of responsibility or videos of the perpetrators are not yet available. Vice-Minister of defence Ruwan Wijewardene said in Parliament on Tuesday, the first results of the investigations suggest that the bomber would have seen the attacks as "retaliation" for the attack on two mosques in new Zealand. The investigators therefore Connections between the NTJ and the second Islamic group from Bangladesh by the name of Jamaat-ul-Mujahedin. Before that it was on the part of the government, the NTJ have received the help of an international terrorist network.

Later on Tuesday, the terrorist militia Islamic state (IS) claimed the attack. Jamaat-ul-Mujahedin had, according to the "Crisis Group" in the past, individual Connections to the IS, but in Sri Lanka the IS not yet active. The Declaration is not made clear whether the IS has been directly involved in the planning.

name and addresses of possible offenders were known to

The New York Times reported on Monday, an internal Memo of the security forces of 11. April had warned of possible attacks by the NTJ. In the document the possible offenders with names, addresses, and telephone numbers are listed. In the Memo, it means that foreign intelligence information pointed to the fact that the leadership of the NTJ plan, among other things, attacks on Catholic churches in Colombo.

After the attacks, the security forces, according to acted, the newspaper first of all, based on this information and arrested within a few hours of the 24 persons in the haze of the circle of the NTJ. Meanwhile, 42 people in custody. Among the detainees, a Syrian state, according to police citizens.

Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne has confirmed the substance of the report is to a large extent. Foreign intelligence services have already on 4. April about possible suicide attacks on churches and tourist destinations in Sri Lanka informed. "We have a responsibility, we are very sorry," said Senaratne on behalf of the government.

"This kind of warnings there are and have not been"

Why the warnings before the attacks to be taken seriously? According to the New York Times was probably a power struggle between President Maithripala Sirisena and head of government of Ranil Wickremesinghe, a role. So the government knew the chief by his own admission, none of the findings of the intelligence services, the President Sirisena.

"In December, wanted to resolve of President Sirisena to be the Cabinet and Premier Wickremesinghe to settle," said SRF-correspondent Thomas good son in "Echo of time". But he could not do it. And so both had to run next to each other, even though they got on badly with each other.

so Far the President has not commented in detail on the allegations. A government adviser denied, however, that there had been mistakes: "This kind of warnings there are and to. Even the United States or others would not try to put people in a panic."

Some observers were quick blame the government skeptical, especially as the Size and coordination of the attacks poorly with the relative obscurity of the NTJ agree. Also the attacks do not fit to the current conflict in Lanka trenches in Sri, where Tamil separatists in the North for many years against the Sinhalese-dominated government in the South had fought. "Sri Lanka has no history of tensions between Muslims and Christians," in about the head of the sri Lankan think-tank Verité Research, Nishan de Mel, to bear in mind in an Interview with the NZZ. Muslims and Christians are both minorities in Sri Lanka and are mainly targeted by radical Buddhists.

The government said the complexity of the attacks that the perpetrators had help from abroad. Cabinet spokesman Senaratne is shown as also secure: "There was an international network, without which the attacks wouldn't have succeeded."

(mac/sda)

Created: 23.04.2019, 14:38 PM