Islamic State group claims responsibility for Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka – an attack the country's minister of defense said was motivated by a deadly assault on mosques last month in Christchurch, New Zealand.

A statement from the terrorist group's news agency, Amaq, said the attackers who carried out the bombings that killed 321 people and injured hundreds more were fighters of the Islamic State group.

"The perpetrators of the attack that targeted nationals of the countries of the coalitions and Christians in Sri Lanka before yesterday are fighters from the Islamic State," the claim stated, according to the Associated Press.

Although the extremist group took responsibility, there has been no official confirmation and no clear evidence to corroborate the claim. The group has made false statements claiming responsibility for attacks in the past.

Sri Lankan officials have blamed a local Islamic extremist group for the bombings. Ruwan Wijewardene, Sri Lanka's minister of defense, tweeted on Tuesday, demanding the government ban National Thowheeth Jama'ath and list it as a terrorist organization. National Thowheeth Jama'ath is a Sri Lankan jihadist group with ties to the Islamic State group.

Wijewardene told Parliament on Tuesday that the bombings were "carried out in retaliation" for the attacks on mosques last month in Christchurch, New Zealand. However, he offered no evidence or explanation for the claim.

Police spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara told CNN that "around 40 suspects" have been arrested in connection with Sunday's bombings and that all those in custody are Sri Lankan.

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