Sri Lanka Attack: Bomber Footage Emerges

Footage emerged of a “young and innocent” looking suicide bomber joining the crowds in a Sri Lankan church moments before he detonated his backpack, killing 67 worshippers.

The video from Indian channel TV9 shows the young man, dressed in casual shirt and jeans, entering St Sebastian Church in Negombo.

Eight co-ordinated attacks at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday killed at least 321 people, including Australian mother Manik Suriaaratchi and her 10-year-old daughter Alexandria. Two other Australians were injured in the blasts.

A survivor of the St Sebastian church attack described the suicide bomber as looking “very young and innocent”. He said the man touched his granddaughter on the head as he passed his family.

“At the end of the mass they (his family) saw one young man go into the church with a heavy bag,” Dilip Fernando told The Sun.

“He touched my granddaughter’s head on the way past. It was the bomber.”

The Sri Lankan government has named local jihadi terror group National Thowheeth Jama’ath as the perpetrators of the attack, but said it was co-ordinated with international help.

This morning, a van parked near St Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo exploded as police tried to detonate three bombs inside. Officers had gone to check on the van after they were told it was parked near the shrine, which was also bombed on Sunday. No injuries were reported.

It came as authorities found more bombs around the country, with 87 bomb detonators found at Colombo’s main bus depot and at a garbage dump.

As a political blame game ­developed in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, the government ­revealed it had received multiple warnings of a possible attack ­including one from a “friendly country” as far back as April 4.

Also killed in the attack were the citizens from nine countries including the UK, US, Denmark, Japan and Portugal.

Three of four children of the billionaire fashion tycoon behind the online clothing retailer Asos were among the victims.

Anders Holch Povlsen, 46, who owns international clothing chain Bestseller, is Denmark’s wealthiest man with a net worth of $11 billion and is ­believed to be the largest landowner in Scotland. A company spokesman would not comment on the identity of the children or whether other members of the family had been visiting Sri Lanka.

A British father who lost his wife and two children in the attack, has spoken of his “catastrophic” loss. Ben Nicholson’s wife Anita and children Annabel and Alex died as they were eating breakfast in the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo. Two suicide bombers walked into the breakfast room and detonated their bombs as part of the eight co-ordinated attacks.

In a statement released by the Foreign Office, Mr Nicholson said: “I am deeply distressed at the loss of my wife and children.

“Mercifully, all three of them died instantly and with no pain or suffering,”

At least 24 people have been arrested over the attacks.

Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne admitted yesterday that foreign intelligence officials had warned Sri Lanka’s national security council two weeks ago that NTJ was planning to attack churches at Easter.

However the warning appears to have become lost amid a political feud between President Sirisena, who oversees the Security Council, and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe whom the president tried to sack last year. Mr Wickremesinghe claims that he has been excluded from intelligence briefings and the warning about the attacks weren’t shared with him.

The NTJ was little known until last year, when it was blamed for minor attacks on Buddhist temples. However, its members have released speeches on YouTube expressing support for radical Islamist movements across the region.

The Sri Lankan police say that the seven bombers who they have identified were Sri Lankan citizens. One was named locally as Zahran Hashim, a radical preacher. At least one of the other attackers named by social media had a Muslim name.

However the Sri Lankan government has said the group was likely inspired and possibly instructed by Islamic State. At least 32 members of Sri Lanka’s minority Muslim population are known to have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight with Isis.

It is also possible that the attackers may have sought inspiration and instruction online from international jihadis.