Unlikely bombings revenge for Christchurch

AUCKLAND: New Zealand security expert Paul Buchanan says it is unlikely the Sri Lanka attacks are in retaliation for the Christchurch mosque massacre.

He said given the coordinated nature of the attacks and intel warnings which were ignored, it would seem a month was too little time to prepare for such an attack.

Site Intelligence Group director Rita Katz says IS supporters have boasted on social media Colombo was revenge for the Christchurch mosque massacre.

Ms Katz said IS media channels were ‘‘posting rampantly’’ about the explosions, indicating the group may be planning to claim responsibility.

‘‘While such a claim may frame the op as revenge for New Zealand, this was likely planned long before,’’ she said.

Mr Buchanan said the attacks appeared to be an attempt to sow sectarian hatred in Sri Lanka and added they appeared to have been planned before March 15.

‘‘Christchurch seems to be a convenient justification for something that was being planned before March 15 and has more to do with ethnicreligious conflict in Sri Lanka,’’ he said.

‘‘It does show the dangers of titfortat responses to terrorist attacks of any stripe.’’

The explosions were the deadliest violence in the country since its civil war ended a decade ago, the Washington Post reported.

Since the war, few have been killed in any terrorismrelated attacks in Sri Lanka.

Buddhist nationalism has become its own form of violence, though far less deadly than civil

war. The attacks appear to be another turn towards religiousbased violence.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported 337 New Zealanders are registered as being in Sri Lanka but there are no reports of injuries or fatalities.

Kiwis with plans to travel to the South Asian country are being told to register with Safe Travel to be alerted to any further risk.

House of Travel commercial director Brent Thomas said

travellers should also check in with their travel agent and airline.

Mr Thomas said House of Travel would work through whether a traveller should cancel or postpone their trip on a casebycase basis.

The blasts ripped through landmarks in and around Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, targeting Christians, hotel guests and foreign tourists.

At least 290 people have been

named dead and around 500 injured following the bombings on Easter Sunday.

Two Kiwis said they heard ‘‘huge explosions’’ near their Colombo hotel when the first bomb was detonated.

Colleen Dunning, from Queenstown, and Erin Clark, from Auckland, had been staying at Galle Face Hotel, along the waterfront from ShangriLa and Grand Cinnamon hotels, where explosions occurred.

‘‘We were walking along the waterfront this morning, where families were gathering for a day on the green,’’ Ms Dunning said.

‘‘We heard a huge explosion followed by sirens and then a few minutes later there was another explosion which was very close to our hotel.’’

They turned back to their hotel, unaware of the scale of the devastation that had happened, and were informed about 30 minutes later by their tour guide, as they made their way out of the city.

They were now down the coast in the city of Galle, and while they were under curfew, they felt ‘‘very safe and have no concerns for our safety’’.

‘‘We feel for the beautiful people of Sri Lanka,’’ Ms Dunning said.

Rotoruabased Sri Lankan woman Surangi De Silva Hettiarachchi said one of the explosions happened very close to where she grew up in Colombo.

She said it was awful to see the death toll rising and more explosions going off.

Many of her friends had lost loved ones in the attacks, she said.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the coordinated attacks as ‘‘devastating’’ and extended New Zealand’s condolences to Sri Lanka.

‘‘New Zealand condemns all acts of terrorism, and our resolve has only been strengthened by the attack on our soil on the 15th of March,’’ Ms Ardern said on Sunday night.

‘‘To see an attack in Sri Lanka while people were in churches and at hotels is devastating.’’ — NZME