Suspected Sri Lankan bomber Moulvi Zahran Hashim pledging allegiance to IS
Security services in Sri Lanka faced a furious backlash last night for ignoring multiple warnings about the Islamist extremist group behind the massacre.
It emerged that Muslim groups alerted military intelligence officials to National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) and its leaders as far back as three years ago.
It was also revealed that foreign intelligence agencies warned of attacks by the group several times in recent weeks – the first as early as April 4 – but that the information was not passed higher up the chain of command.
Moulvi Zahran Hashim, the founder of NTJ who referred to himself as Abu Ubaida, was named as the alleged mastermind behind the Easter Sunday suicide bombings in churches and luxury hotels that killed 290 people and injured hundreds more. Local media claimed the extremist preacher, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was one of the bombers who attacked the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo, but this was later disputed.
Hilmy Ahamed, vice-president of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, said he warned military intelligence officials about the group and its leaders. Speaking from Colombo, Mr Ahamed said: ‘Targeting the non-Muslim community is something they encourage – they say you have to kill them in the name of religion.
‘I personally handed over all the documents three years ago, giving names and details of all these people. They have sat on it. That’s the tragedy.’
Meanwhile CCTV footage emerged of an unidentified bomber entering St Sebastian’s Church at Katuwapitiya. Wearing sunglasses and sandals, the man was seen casually walking past worshippers just moment before he is believed to have blown himself up.
Concerns have been raised that a bitter split among senior politicians led to vital intelligence before the NTJ attacks being wasted as key figures were not alerted.
Suspected Sri Lankan bomber Moulvi Zahran Hashim preaching as Western flags burn, including Britain's
Tensions between president Maithripala Sirisena, who heads the security forces, and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are high following Sirisena’s sacking of the PM in October, which triggered a weeks-long political crisis that ended only when the Supreme Court overturned the decision.
Yesterday Mr Wickremesinghe acknowledged that ‘information was there’ about possible attacks.
Sri Lanka’s minister of telecommunications, Harin Fernando, yesterday circulated an internal security memo dated earlier this month that warned NTJ was ‘getting ready for suicide attacks on popular Catholic churches and the Indian High Commission’. It also said NTJ members were ‘inciting hatred’ among online followers. ‘Serious
