Possible it could have been due to Christchurch attack, says Sri Lankan PM on Easter Sunday killings

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday asserted that there is a possibility that the Easter Sunday attack in the country could have been due to the Christchurch attack.

"It is possible it could have been due to Christchurch attack (on two mosques in New Zealand), but we cannot say yet. Police who are questioning will be able to say so. They will be able to find out," he said.

He also said that the investigators are making good progress in regard to identifying the culprits.

"We have to identify all of them and look at what the network is. Many countries are helping us, starting from the United States. There is news coming from Cairo that ISIS is claiming responsibility. We knew earlier that there were foreign links and this could not have been done just locally," he added.

On being asked about the level of foreign involvement, he said: "There was foreign involvement. We feel that some of them might have travelled abroad. There may be more than that."

Wickremesinghe also asserted that the terrorists do not belong to any faith and they have their own interpretation of faith.

"The government will continue its policy of having unity in the country while cracking down on global terrorism. "

He also said that there was a specific intelligence on this and the agencies will be looking into what led to the information not being put to use.

Earlier in the day, the Islamic State (ISIS) had claimed responsibility for the coordinated bombings that claimed the lives of over 300 people in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.

Eight explosions rattled various suburbs in the Sri Lankan cities of Colombo, Negombo, Kochchikede and Batticaloa as the Christian community celebrated Easter Sunday on April 21.

Sri Lanka is in a state of emergency in the aftermath of the bombings. All schools have been shut down till Wednesday, as the authorities continue their search and rescue operations.