All suspects in the Sri Lanka bombings are either dead or arrested, authorities say
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
A little more than two weeks after suicide bombings killed more than 250 people in Sri Lanka, every suspect directly linked to the attacks is either dead or arrested, Reuters reports.
Sri Lanka's acting police chief Chandana Wickramaratne announced the news on Monday in an audio statement circulated by the Sri Lankan defense ministry. He also said security forces confiscated bomb-making materials which were intended for use in future attacks by the militants.
The news comes after Sri Lanka instituted emergency powers which gave sweeping authority to the police and military as they tracked down suspects.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There is still some uncertainty surrounding the situation, however. Sri Lankan authorities believe the Easter Sunday attacks were carried out by two little-known local Islamist groups, the National Tawheed Jamath and Jamathei Millathu Ibrahim, both of which were banned by the state. The only group to have claimed responsibility for the attacks outright, though, is the Islamic State. It remains unclear whether ISIS and the local groups were literally working together, or whether the former served as inspiration.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
