IS claims responsibility for SL bombings

The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the coordinated bombings in Sri Lanka which killed 321 people and injured some 500, Reuters reported yesterday quoting the group’s AMAQ news agency.   

However, Reuters said the group had not given any evidence to back its claim.   
Meanwhile, News.Com Australia said IS’s official al-Amaq news agency made the claim on its channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram late Tuesday.  

“The perpetrators of the attack that targeted nationals of the crusader alliance (anti-IS US-led coalition) and Christians in Sri Lanka the day before yesterday were Islamic State fighters,” the brief message said, according to a translation by BBC journalist Faisal Irshaid.  

It came after an unconfirmed video posted to social media earlier that day by an affiliated group strongly suggested IS was behind the attacks.  

The video, purportedly from Al Ghuraba Media, which is not an official IS channel but is believed to be run by supporters of IS, featured the chilling message, “This bloody day is our reward to you.”  

It also showed photos of three of the alleged suicide bombers.  

The men are named as Abul Barra, Abul Mukhtar and Abu Ubaida and appear in front of a black IS flag giving the one-finger salute.  

Abu Ubaida’s real name is Zahran Hashim, a Sri Lankan NTJ preacher who was named in an intelligence memo warning of the attack.  Hashim was a prolific online preacher known for his fiery sermons calling for death to infidels. Shortly after his name began circulating online on Monday, YouTube removed his account “for violating YouTube’s Terms of Service”.  
The Times of India quoted an Indian intelligence officer giving credence to the video.  

“The given names are typical of how IS identifies its fighters after they pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi,” the intelligence officer said.