No claims, small terror group: How Lanka attacks break from past patterns

Could a small, little-known local group really have launched such a deadly complex operation?

The wave of suicide attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday feels awfully familiar, as is the government’s assessment of who is to blame: local jihadists, in cahoots with international terrorist networks. Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne told a press conference in Colombo that the National Thowheed Jamath—a small, hitherto little-known group—was behind the bombings, which have killed some 300 and wounded 500.

But, he added, “We don’t see how a small organization can do all of this. We are now investigating international support for the group and their other links.”

No group has as yet claimed responsibility for the attacks,