ISIS claims responsibility for Sri Lanka massacre of over 300 Christians

Further to yesterday's "Suspicions confirmed" post... it will be recalled that following the Christchurch, New Zealand shoot-up of a couple of mosques, perpetrated by a "white nationalist", "racist" etc etc, there was a tsunami of white Christian guilt. World leaders condemned unequivocally the terrible act of Islamophobia, called for confiscation of the guns of everyone except "the authorities, etc etc. Mounds of flowers and teddy bears piled up in front of mosques around the world, and vigils were held everywhere. The Pope prayed for the victims. The prime minister of New Zealand and other worthies donned Islamic headscarves to show solidarity with the poor oppressed Muslims.

Sunday saw a much more horrific attack on Christian churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka. The death toll has now reached 321 -- six times that of the New Zealand massacre. The response of world leaders was muted, by comparison, perhaps even "guarded", because, errr, there was the possibility that the killers of over 300 Christians -- not Muslims but Christians -- might turn out to be, errr, Muslims, hell-bent on revenge for the New Zealand atrocity. For that to be the case would be embarrassing for the liberal politicians and lamestream media who only see non-white followers of the Prophet as victims of white racism, Islamophobia, etc etc.

Unfortunately for those who insist that Islam is "The Religion of Peace", it has now been revealed, by no less a personage than the Sri Lankan Minister of Defence that the Easter attack on churches, hotels and other sites in the South Asian nation was "carried out in retaliation" for the shooting massacre at two New Zealand mosques. The minister, Ruwan Wijewardene, told Parliament the government possessed information that the series of bombings in and outside of Colombo that killed more than 300 people was carried out "by an Islamic fundamentalist group" in response to the Christchurch attacks. Which is pretty much what Walt said yesterday. Perhaps Mr Wijewardene is a reader of WWW.

Mr Wijewardene did not name the "Islamic fundamentalist group". If he doesn't read (or believe) Walt, he should at least check reports in The Guardian and other lamestream media that ISIS has claimed, through its AMAQ news agency, that the atrocities were the work of "fighters of the Islamic State". To wit:

Pictures are also circulating on the Internet -- notably on siteintelgroup.com -- purportedly showing the suspected suicide bombers, including purported National Thowfeek Jama'ath leader Moulvi Zahran Hashim pledging allegiance to ISIS.

These photos have not been published by AMAQ. Rather, it seems, they are being circulated by ISIS fanatics to encourage others.

Some of the lamestream media, and many apologists for Islamic extremism, persist in the fiction that "the motive for the bombings remains" unclear. The Sri Lankan government at least got that part right. The attacks, said Mr Wijewardene, were in retaliation for the killing of 50 Muslims last month at mosques in New Zealand. "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord" is something you might find in Judeo-Christian Scripture, but not, apparently, in the Holy Qu'ran.

I'm waiting for Theresa May, Angela Merkel, Justin Trudeau, Hellery Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Fauxcahontas -- hell, any of them -- to condemn the Islamic extremism which is the source of 99% of the world's troubles. But I'm not holding my breath. Are followers of the Prophet not told, "Kill the infidels wherever they may be found!" Just because you're Islamophobic doesn't mean the Muslims aren't out to get ya!

Sri Lanka: Suspicions confirmed; Islamic terrorists kill nearly 300

No cries of "Allahu akbar!" were actually heard -- drowned out by the noise of the explosions perhaps -- but the government of Sri Lanka has now confirmed that yesterday's attacks on Christian churches and luxury hotels were carried out by a local militant group named National Thowfeek Jama'ath, with the help of an international network.

Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne told a news conference this morning that all the bombers were citizens of Sri Lanka. He added that the government was investigating whether the group had international support. "We do not believe these attacks were carried out by a group of people who were confined to this country. There was an international network without which these attacks could not have succeeded."

What kind of an "international network"? Mr Senaratne did not go into details, but as Walt told you yesterday -- something you won't read in the lamestream media -- senior police officials have identified National Thowfeek Jama'ath as a group of Islamic terrorists. The "international network" could therefore refer to al-Qaeda, ISIS, al-Shabaab or the Taliban... any of them of all of the fanatical jihadis hell-bent (I mean that literally) on exterminating "infidels" such as those shown in this photo, taken some years ago, of some Lankan Catholics and your obedient servant.

Earlier today, a Lankan government forensic crime investigator said an examination of the Islamist attackers' body parts showed that they were suicide bombers. That detail really fascinates me. What body parts, I wonder? Did they have "Allahu akbar!" tattooed on some appendage?

This morning a "controlled explosion" occurred in a van near one of the attacked churches, when bomb squad officials were trying to defuse a bomb found near the departure gate of the Colombo airport. Elsewhere, 87 detonators were found at a Colombo bus station. And on Sunday afternoon, security forces raided a house in Colombo only to lose three officers killed in another explosion. 24 "locals" have now been arrested. That's less than 1/10th of the number killed in the bombings, which has now risen to 290, with over 500 reported injured.

Further reading:
"Horrifying moment car bomb blows up outside Sri Lankan church after police attempted to defuse it the day after Islamist terror attacks killed 290 people", Daily Mail (UK) 22/4/19.

And more:
"The Sri Lanka Jihad Massacre and the Decline of the West: How many times is the charade of denial going to play out?", by Robert Spencer on the FrontPageMag site, 22/4/19. Mr Spencer quotes an Indian media source as identifying three of the jihadis by name: Zahran Hashim, Abu Mohammad and Mohamed Azzam Mohamed. Why, he asks, can't Western leaders like the UK's Theresa May and Canada's Just In Trudeau bring themselves to utter the words "Muslim" or "Islamist", when the evidence is there. Walt's answer: Political correctness still rules the West! M-103!

Sri Lanka massacre work of "the Religion of Peace"? Hmmm?

Let us not jump to conclusions. There are fanatics in most of the world's major religions, with the exceptions of Christianity and Judaism. By fanatics, I mean the kind of "people" who would blow themselves up along with as many "infidels" as possible, in the name of their god. For some reason, Muslim extremists come to mind. But there are, in south Asia, Hindu fanatics (many of whom support India's BJP) and even Buddhist fanatics.

Sri Lanka has them all. For 30 years there was a civil war between the Sinhalese Buddhists -- the majority population in Sri Lanka -- and the Hindu Tamil Tigers (LTTE), who wanted to rule over their own little chunk in the northeast of the island. About ten years ago the Tigers threw in the turban [towel, surely! Ed.] and laid down their arms... supposedly... and Sri Lanka has enjoyed a period of piece ever since. Until today, when "somebody did something" -- a co-ordinated series of bombings of Christian (mainly Catholic) churches and luxury hotels in Colombo and the suburb of Negombo. The death toll stands at over 200, with at least 470 injured.

Lankan government officials immediately pointed the finger at "terrorists", and rounded up 13 suspects, without identifying them as followers of any particular political or religious group. The Sinhalese community was quick to blame the LTTE. But a statement by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe late today opened the door to the possibility that the attackers were, errr, not Tamil fanatics. Mr Wickremesinghe said the suspects' names were "local", but added that investigators were probing whether they had any "overseas links".

Hmmm. The attack bore little similarity to the violence of the civil war, but had echoes of mass Islamist terror attacks around the world in recent years. And the targets were not Buddhist temples or institutions of the Sinhalese-dominated government, but Christian churches and luxury hotels frequented by Westerners. Hmmm.

The Prime Minister also admitted that the country's security services had received "information" about possible attacks ten days ago! "Foreign sources" are said to have warbed the Lankans that "prominent churches" would be targeted by suicide bombers. It is not clear what precautions were taken... if any.

The reported warnings, circulated by senior police officials, suggested that an extremist Islamist group called the National Thowfeek Jama'ath was behind the attacks. Mr Wickremesinghe said the information had not been shared with him or cabinet ministers. "While this goes on we must also look into why adequate precautions were not taken," he said.

Probably just a coincidence, but within an hour or so of the attacks, The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka issued a statement condemning the attacks on the places of worship of "our Christian brothers and sisters on their holy day of Easter, as well as on the hotels in Colombo.... We mourn the loss of innocent lives due to extremist and violent elements who wish to create divides between religious and ethnic groups to realize their agenda." Again, hmmm.

Almost as quick off the mark to express his shock and sympathy was Yousef al-Othaimeen, Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, who described the attacks as "cowardly", for targetting innocent worshippers and civilians. The OIC has 57 member nations. It is headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Hmmm.

This is (rather obviously) a breaking story. Walt will have more to say tomorrow.