Colombo: The US has warned that the terrorist threat in Sri Lanka still remains as active members of the group that carried out the massive suicide attacks on Easter Sunday may still be at large, a media report said Tuesday.
The US Embassy here has said that at the request of the Sri Lankan Government, US security experts were working closely with their Sri Lankan partners on “fulfilling short term, specific objectives” related to the recent attacks and to bringing the perpetrators to justice.
- Sri Lankan authorities said local Islamist group National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ) was behind the Easter Sunday attacks
- However, the NTJ has not claimed responsibility for the attacks
- Tuesday, the IS terror group said it had carried out the attacks, and released video of men it said were the bombers, pledging allegiance to the group
Nancy VanHorn, the spokesperson at the US Embassy in Colombo said that the US believes active members of the attack group that carried out the terror attacks on Easter Sunday may still be at large.
“As the (US) Ambassador (Alaina Teplitz) has previously stated and as reflected in our travel advisory, the terrorist threat is ongoing,” the spokesperson told the Colombo Gazette.
Sri Lankan authorities said they believed a little-known local militant Islamist group known as National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ) was behind the attack that killed 300 people and injured nearly 500 more. However, the NTJ has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, Sri Lanka’s worst.
Tuesday, the Islamic State terror group said it had carried out the attacks, and released video of men it said were the bombers, pledging allegiance to the group.
The attackers targeted three Catholic churches and three luxury hotels.
