International links of the little-known Islamist group blamed for the Easter Sunday suicide bombings in Sri Lanka are under the spotlight amid questions about whether it was capable of orchestrating such a complex attack without outside help.
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But the group wasn't on the radar of many Western terrorism and security experts prior to being accused Monday of orchestrating the attacks. While it had been linked to the vandalism of Buddhist statues, the NTJ had never previously been implicated in any deaths. , without providing evidence or explaining where the information came from. The office of New Zealand's prime minister responded by saying it hasn't"seen any intelligence upon which such an assessment might be based."
"It’s hard to believe that any of these small groups would have been able to put an attack of such complexity that would require careful logistical planning, months of preparation, without support from foreign interests," Patel said. The fact that Christians and tourists were targeted — as opposed to Buddhists — also potentially suggests an international terrorism dimension to the attack, according to Patel.Dinuka Liyanawatte / Reuters
"This is a group that has gone from zero to 60 in its first attack," said Pape, who has studied every suicide attack on Sri Lanka since 1987 and is the author"Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism."
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