Easter Sunday bombings were retaliation for Christchurch attack - State Defence Minister Ruwan

Initial investigations have revealed that an Islamist extremist group named National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) had carried out the Easter Sunday terror attack in response to the terror attack on Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand, State Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene stated.

By Sandun Jayawardana
Making a special statement in Parliament, Mr Wijewardene also said that the group has links to international terrorist group JMI, though he did not elaborate.

Mr Wijewardene said that the Government should take immediate steps to ban such terror organizations and ensure that their members are brought to justice. He further said measures should be taken to seize assets of those who were behind the attacks.

Full text of State Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene is as follows :

Mr Speaker

I stand here today with a heavy heart. The peace and tranquility of this beautiful land that we have enjoyed and worked so hard to protect was destroyed in a matter of minutes by group of ruthless terrorists.

Easter Sunday is the day Catholics and Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ. It is a holy day, a day for families to gather in churches for peaceful prayer. However this peace and tranquillity were shattered by a series of devastating suicide attacks by extremists, on Churches and hotels across this land. Countless innocent lives have been lost and families torn apart. 311 precious lives have been lost and over 500 persons injured. I too have lost dear and close friends to the explosion at the Shanghai-La hotel. I believe most of us here know of someone who’s been affected by these attacks. I take this opportunity to extend my profound sympathies to all who are affected by these gruesome incidents.

Mr Speaker

As you know three churches and four hotels were targeted by these extremists. These were well coordinated suicide attacks aimed at achieving maximum death and destruction. We believe it was carried out by an extreme Islamist group as a reprisal to the Christchurch mosque massacre in New Zealand. This group is known to have links to an organization named National Thowheed Jamath. We should take immediate steps to ban any such organization that have links to extremist elements. We must take immediate action against any extremists group operating in Sri Lanka.

However I must be clear that these atrocities were committed by a group not motivated by religion, but driven by revenge, blinded by hate and with evil intent.

We must not castigate the peaceful Muslim community in this country because of a misguided few. Many Muslim groups have extended their fullest support and cooperation to the on going investigations. They encourage the police and the security forces to take all necessary actions against these radical elements. I urge everyone to cooperate with police and security forces in their investigations by maintaining the peace. This is not a time for vigilante justice.

Mr Speaker

It is with deep regret and shame that i state that there was a massive lapse in the security set up leading up to the Easter Sunday attack. It is evident that the intelligence services had prior knowledge of an impending attack on churches and had informed relevant officials. However this information was shared only among a few officials. I must categorically state that both The Prime Minister and me as the state minister of defence did not receive any information on these intelligence reports. Nor was the information shared with the service commanders. While the President was away on a foreign visit, it baffles as to why the Prime Minister nor I was informed of such a threat.

It is also regrettable that up until yesterday, both the prime minister and i were not included in the security council meetings since last October.

However at yesterdays security council meeting chaired by the President, his excellency informed that an inquiry will be conducted to assess the security lapse. The security council also took a decision to impose a state of emergency today so as to assist the authorities to conduct a more thorough investigation.

Mr speaker

Among the deceased there are 37 foreign nationals. I extend by heartfelt condolences to all their family members and respective national leaders.
I must also thank all the foreign leaders who are standing with us during this trying time. Many of these countries have offered their assistance for the on going investigations.

Mr Speaker

We shall comb every inch of this island to catch, arrest, detain and punish every single person who is involved in this heinous attack. We have made significant arrests and are investigating possible links to international extremists group. This country and our people have suffered enough, we must not let extremism drag us down. It may take years and decades for for our wounds to heal but like the resurrection we too shall rise and we shall overcome.

Thank you