NZ PM Jacinda Ardern Says We Have No Intelligence Linking Sri Lanka Massacre To Christchurch Mayhem: Two Indians Sans Visas Arrested In Sri Lanka

ISIS claims responsibility for the Sri Lank massacre that killed over 359 persons including 8 Indians and injured over 500. Sri Lanka had earlier named local Islamist group National Thowheeth Jama’ath as chief suspect. US intelligence had earlier said the attacks bore hallmarks of ISIS. Media report the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Sri Lanka attacks and released images that purported to show the attackers. Police say the death toll in the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka has risen to 359 and more suspects have been taken into custody. Two Indian nationals without visas have been arrested over suspicious involvement in terror attacks. Police said mine individuals believed to be involved in assisting Easter attacks arrested in Jaffna. Twelve suspects apprehended over Easter Sunday attacks from Beruwela. Measures have been taken to produce the Indian suspects before the Nuwara Eliya Police before being handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara added Wednesday morning that 18 suspects were arrested overnight, raising the total detained to 58.Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Tuesday that several suspects armed with explosives were still at large. Another top government official said the suicide bombings at the churches, hotels and other sites were carried out by Islamic fundamentalists in apparent retaliation for the New Zealand mosque massacre last month. PM Wickremesinghe said that investigators were still determining the extent of the bombers’ foreign links.Top of Form

ISIS claimed responsibility for Sri Lanka attacks and named what it said were seven attackers who carried them out. At Wellington,  New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that her government was not aware of any intelligence suggesting that a devastating attack on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka was in retaliation for deadly shootings on a mosques in Christchurch.Sri Lanka’s junior minister for Defence, Ruwan Wijewardene, told his country’s parliament on Tuesday that an initial investigation had revealed the coordinated bombings on churches and hotels was  conducted in revenge for deadly shootings in two New Zealand mosques on March 15. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told a news conference investigators were making progress in identifying the perpetrators and believed there could be some links to ISIS. Sri Lanka’s junior defence minister had earlier told Parliament that two Sri Lankan Islamist groups – the National Thawheed Jama’ut and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim – were responsible for the blasts early on Sunday during Easter services and as high-end hotels served breakfast. Meanwhile, President Srisena Maithripala said The Police, Tri-Forces and Security Forces would be restructured within a week and expected to change the heads of all security forces within the next 24 hours.