Bomber queued at buffet before blast
Police were warned of terror group’s suicide attacks plot
IN the wake of the terror attack which has left 207 dead, it has emerged Sri Lanka’s police chief reportedly warned of suicide bombers planning to hit “prominent churches” 10 days ago.
According to The Sun, documents show cops were told of possible attacks involving the religious hubs, before worshippers were killed during Easter mass.
Dozens were also injured and killed in blasts at four hotels in Colombo on Sunday as six explosions happened almost at once across the city.
Hours later two more were reported, leaving five more people dead — including three police officers.
Just over a week ago police chief Pujuth Jayasundara reportedly told officers: “A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama’ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo”. The NTJ is a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka linked to last year’s destruction of Buddhist statues.
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks in the country which was at war for decades with Tamil separatists until 2009 — during which bomb blasts in the capital were common.
All of the six explosions — as Christians attended Easter mass — were carried out by suicide bombers, according to initial investigations.
Sri Lanka’s minister of defence Ruwan Wijewardene said in a press conference: “We believe that all the culprits who have been involved in this unfortunate terrorist incident will be taken into custody as soon as possible.
“They have been identified.”
He later confirmed seven people had been arrested.
According to The Daily Mail, a Sri Lanka bomber queued at a hotel buffet amid unsuspecting crowds at the Easter Sunday breakfast buffet at Sri Lanka’s Cinnamon Grand hotel before unleashing devastation on when he set off explosives strapped to his back as he waited in the line.
The man was a Sri Lankan and had registered at the hotel the night before as Mohamed Azzam Mohamed, and was carrying a breakfast plate about to be served at around 8.30am when he set off his bomb.