Small Wars Journal

Sri Lanka Bomber Trained in Syria With Islamic State

Tue, 04/30/2019 - 12:13am

Sri Lanka Bomber Trained in Syria With Islamic State by Niharika Mandhana, Rob Taylor and Saeed Shah – Wall Street Journal

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.

 

As many as four of the 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…

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