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Israel/Zionism See other Israel/Zionism Articles Title: Sri Lanka Bomber Trained in Syria With Islamic State Investigators establish first direct links between terror group and Easter assault Sri Lanka Bomber Trained in Syria With Islamic State Investigators establish first direct links between terror group and Easter assault Security personnel stand guard in front of St Anthony's Shrine in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on April 29, following a string of suicide-bomb attacks across the island on Easter Sunday PHOTO: DANISH SIDDIQUI/REUTERS By Niharika Mandhana, Rob Taylor and Saeed Shah Updated April 29, 2019 10:45 p.m. ET At least one suicide bomber in the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka trained with Islamic State in Syria, people with knowledge of the investigations said, reflecting the extremist group’s continued reach after the collapse of its self-declared caliphate. The first direct links between Islamic State and those who carried out the deadly bombings came as the group released on Monday a rare recorded video purportedly of its leader, 47-year-old Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In the video, which couldn't be independently confirmed by The Wall Street Journal and would be the first known footage of the jihadist in nearly five years, Baghdadi urged followers to fight on despite the setbacks. He called the Sri Lanka attacks an act of revenge following the caliphate’s loss of its last strip of territory in Syria. Investigators said one suicide bomber, Jameel Mohammed Abdul Latheef, had planned to blow himself up at a luxury hotel, Taj Samudra, in the capital Colombo around the same time Easter morning that other attackers detonated explosives strapped to their bodies at three other top-end hotels and three churches. But they believe Latheef’s device malfunctioned. He blew himself up outside a small inn, killing himself and two other people. Latheef traveled to Raqqa, Syria, in 2014, when it was Islamic State’s de facto capital and attracted foreign fighters from around the world, one of the people familiar with the matter said. There, he linked up with Islamic State recruiters, including then-Australian national Neil Prakash and British citizen Mohammed Emwazi. Emwazi, known as “Jihadi John,” was suspected to be behind the gruesome beheadings of U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. He was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2015. Latheef, who studied in the U.K. and Australia, earning a degree in aeronautical engineering, is believed to have trained with Islamic State for three to six months, the person said. He was then dispatched to Sri Lanka, his home country, to recruit others and carry out attacks. A police officer inspects the site of a gunbattle between troops and suspected Islamist militants in Kalmunai, on the east coast of Sri Lanka, on April 28. PHOTO: DINUKA LIYANAWATTE/REUTERS As many as three other Sri Lanka bombers are being investigated for travels to Turkey, Syria or Iraq, where they could have come into contact with Islamic State operatives and learned bomb-making and communications skills, an adviser to the government who was briefed on the investigations said. Islamic State claimed responsibility last week for the Easter attacks, which killed more than 250 people, and released a video of eight men it said carried them out pledging allegiance to the group. The Sri Lankan government first believed the attackers had been inspired by Islamic State’s ideology, but as investigations have progressed, officials in Colombo are discovering that the links extend further to training and support. Terror experts said the growing connections show Islamic State hasn’t been defeated as an organization despite the loss of territory it controlled in Syria and Iraq. U.S.-backed forces ousted Islamic State from its last Syria outpost in March, forcing the extremist group to morph back into a guerrilla insurgency from a governing authority as swaths of territory were freed from its brutal rule. But it continues to have a network of supporters around the world who are trained by Islamic State operatives and loyal to the group’s cause. Some terrorism experts suggested Islamic State’s leader, Baghdadi, came forward now because the Sri Lanka attacks gave the group what it regards as a victory. “It’s hard to send out a message when they’ve been doing so much losing,” said Seth Jones, a former Pentagon adviser now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington. “But it is another thing to wait for an attack like this, one that did succeed in killing a large number of individuals. The group thinks that is has gotten some traction.” Indian authorities, meanwhile, searched three locations on Monday that are allegedly linked to Islamic State recruitment. The country’s National Investigation Agency has been trying to keep track of a group of 15 people from the southern state of Kerala who it says left India in 2016 to join Islamic State and be trained. Some of them are believed to be in Afghanistan, an official at the agency said. Investigators have found that the Sri Lanka bombers used encrypted messaging apps Telegram and Threema to communicate with one another and with their Islamic State points of contact, the adviser and an intelligence official in Sri Lanka said. Police officers display a flag in Arabic that reads ‘There is no god, but Allah’ and ‘Of Allah is the Prophet, Muhammad’ in Ampara, Sri Lanka, on April 28. PHOTO: GEMUNU AMARASINGHE/ASSOCIATED PRESS They also used explosives made from TATP, or Triacetone Triperoxide, which Islamic State often uses and can be prepared with easily available substances like drain-cleaning liquid, nail-polish remover and ball bearings. Security forces in a raid on Friday found an Islamic State banner and black clothes worn by the men in the video released by Islamic State after the attack. Not long after, police approached another house in the area, along the country’s east coast, where they were met with a volley of gunfire. By the end of the night, at least 15 people were dead, including children who were in the house. Sri Lankan authorities said no security forces died. Islamic State claimed this attack, too, according to the SITE intelligence group, which monitors such content. Authorities in Sri Lanka have said the suicide bombers came from two local Islamist groups. One of the groups, Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim, recruited for Islamic State since at least 2015, the government adviser said. An intelligence official said the group targeted relatively affluent men in urban areas and is believed to have 150 to 200 members. Two sons of a wealthy spice trader in Sri Lanka were among the bombers, including one of the attackers at the Shangri La Hotel. A senior security official in Colombo said their family provided funding to Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim. “Their ideology is very close to ISIS. It is totally a terrorist organization,” said the senior security official, referring to Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim. “They believe in violence only. They are highly motivated top-class people.” Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim was “a harder, more ideologically strong group,” said Srilal Lakthilake, an adviser to Sri Lanka’s president. He estimated that at least 100 people were required to carry out the attacks, including handlers for the suicide bombers and the technical team for the bombs. Some Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim members joined forces with a fiery Islamist preacher, Zahran Hashim, after he was excommunicated two years ago from an Islamist organization he had founded. Hashim was known for his YouTube videos in which he took a hard-line interpretation of Islam. Facebook and other online platforms helped the various bombers connect. Investigators said members of Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim and Hashim and his followers planned the attacks together. They are looking into Hashim’s connections to Islamic State and have so far mapped out his travels to India, where he was popular among Islamic State supporters in the south of the country, as well as to the Maldives and Qatar. Hashim also died in the attacks. —Raja Abdulrahim and Rajesh Roy contributed to this article. Write to Niharika Mandhana at niharika.mandhana@wsj.com, Rob Taylor at rob.taylor@wsj.com and Saeed Shah at saeed.shah@wsj.com Appeared in the April 30, 2019, print edition as 'Sri Lanka Bomber Trained With Islamic State in Syria.' Poster Comment: Alternate "Easter worshipers" murdered headline: "Zionist Deep State's ISIS-trained Terrorists Murder 300 Christians" Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 4.
#2. To: Rotara (#0)
Revelation 20:7-10, assuming Book of Revelation was written in 66 A.D. [and I do]. "By Deception thou shalt do war."
The Mossad motto
There are no replies to Comment # 4. End Trace Mode for Comment # 4.
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