Majority of Lankan suicide bombers from well-to-do families, one studied in the UK: Minister

The majority of the Easter Sunday suicide bombers were from well-to-do Sri Lankan families and they were well-educated, including one who studied in the UK, State Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said Wednesday.

Sri Lanka's government has blamed the attacks on three Catholic churches and three luxury hotels on a little-known Islamist group National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ).

Speaking at a press conference, Police Spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said nine suicide bombers took part in the Easter Sunday bombings.

Out of the nine, eight have been identified. The ninth bomber was confirmed as the wife of one of the suicide bombers, he said.

Sharing more information on the bombers, Minister Wijewardene said most of them are well-educated, and come from middle- or upper-middle-class families.

"They are financially quite independent and their families are quite stable financially," he said.

He added, "We believe that one of the suicide bombers studied in the UK and maybe later on did his post-graduation in Australia, before coming back to settle in Sri Lanka."