Sri Lanka’s Minister of Defense, Ruwan Wijewardene on Tuesday said that the coordinated Easter Sunday attacks that killed at least 321 people and injured more than 500 others were in retaliation for the recent mosque attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand.
“Extremist group named National Thowheed Jamaath carried out Sunday’s terror attacks in response to terror attacks in Christchurch,” Wijewardene said in a statement.
The mosque shootings in March which left at least 50 persons dead prompted the New Zealand government to take swift action to approve new gun control laws.
New Zealand officials had described the alleged gunman in the Christchurch shooting as a right-wing extremist terrorist who appeared to post a manifesto detailing his white-supremacist world view.
Sri Lanka is primarily Buddhist, with significant Muslim, Christian and Hindu minorities. Although the anti-Muslim bigotry has risen in the country recently, there has not been any reported case of violence and tension between the country’s Muslim and Christian communities.
The coordinated attacks, which set off a wave of concurrent explosions hit three churches and three luxury hotels. Among the dead was an 11-year-old student from Washington DC who was having breakfast with his family.
Two siblings, Amelie Linsey, 15 and and 19-year-old Daniel Linsey, both dual US-UK citizens were also killed while eating breakfast at the Shangri-La Hotel on the last day of a family vacation.
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