Thread by @Charles_Lister

The scale of the #SriLanka attacks is hard to fathom - 290 dead & 500+ wounded.

Target choice, scope, coordination & device success rate makes an international nexus here *highly* likely.

Both #ISIS & #AQIS have reported links w. Sri Lanka/ns, but no evidence yet links to this.

#pt: #SriLanka authorities have pinned initial blame on indigenous Islamist movement @ntjinfo, but I'd be amazed if they - or any similar local organization - had the capacity to conduct such a complex series of mass-casualty attacks.

The bomb-maker alone appears very adept.

@ntjinfo #pt: As @RobertPostings has revealed, one of the allegedly-identified #SriLanka suicide bombers, "Zahran Hashim," was an overt #ISIS supporter (as of late-2017), with a social media following of 4,000+.

#SriLanka has also acknowledged ~40 citizens joined #ISIS in #Syria/#Iraq.

@ntjinfo @RobertPostings #pt: While some minimal reporting has linked Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (#AQIS) to #SriLanka recruitment rings, the nature of the #Easter attacks no longer fits #AlQaeda's modus operandi.

Anything is possible, but this would be a significant departure from AQ's new MO.

@ntjinfo @RobertPostings #pts: To reiterate, there's *not* yet been any claim of responsibility for the #SriLanka attacks - domestically or internationally.

With time, new information will reveal more re. the perpetrators - but for now, I'd expect an international link & that's most likely to be #ISIS.

@ntjinfo @RobertPostings On the #SriLanka attacks & any possible #ISIS connection, note also that U.S.-designated, #India/#Pakistan-based #ISIS figure "Mohammed Shafi Armar" was reported in 2017 to have been attempting to recruit #SriLanka-ns -

ndtv.com/india-news/isi…

48hrs after the #SriLanka attacks, #ISIS has claimed responsibility, attributing it to “fighters of the Islamic State.”

Photos of the perpetrators have been circulating for the last 24hrs.

BREAKING - #ISIS has now issued an official statement with additional details, claiming responsibility for the #SriLanka attacks.

It names 7 individuals (using kunyas), it says were responsible:

Abu Obaida
Abu Mokhtar
Abu Khalil
Abu Hamza
Abu al-Bara
Abu Mohammed
Abu Abdullah

Wow.

A source in #SriLanka told @itvnews that 48 suspects detained after the #SriLankaAttacks spent time in #Syria with #ISIS.

That's likely a broad sweep of all known returnees, but still, 48 is more than the government had acknowledged had gone in total (AFAIK).

https://twitter.com/tombradby/status/1120665814200397825

@itvnews NEW - #ISIS's Amaq releases a new image, showing the 7 perpetrators of the #SriLankaAttacks, with Zahran Hashim (previously ID'd) the only one whose face is uncovered.

@itvnews NEW - #ISIS's Amaq has now released a video showing the #SriLankaAttacks perpetrators pledging allegiance.