Sri Lanka has announced that all jihadists directly linked to the Easter Sunday bombings that left 257 people dead and many injured have either been arrested or are dead. In an audio statement circulated by the defence ministry, Chandana Wickramaratne, the acting Inspector General of Police, said security forces had also confiscated bomb-making material intended for future use by the militants involved in the attacks, which killed more than 250 people.
“We have taken measures to normalize the situation,” he told parliament. “But we should keep in mind that the threat has not been completely neutralized because it is an issue of global terrorism.”
“There were also two people among that group of plotters who are experts in bombs and those two are dead now,” Wickramaratne added. “They had stored part of the explosives for future attacks and we have confiscated all of this.”
Sri Lankan authorities have said the bombings were believed to have been carried out by two little-known local Islamist groups, the National Tawheed Jamaath (NTJ) and Jamathei Millathu Ibrahim (JMI).
Investigators are still tracking down 10 more key players associated with plotting the bombings, a military source told Reuters on Tuesday.
“The investigations show there were another 8 to 10 people who attended meetings with the other plotters,” the source said.
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