Sri Lanka extremists warned more attacks would follow in video
Posted on April 28th, 2019

Courtesy Telegraph

Moulavi Zahran Hashim was a radical islamist Imam and preacher who was identified as the mastermind behind the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo during the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter Bombings.
Moulavi Zahran Hashim was a radical islamist Imam and preacher who was identified as the mastermind behind the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo during the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter Bombings.

The father and two brothers of the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday terror attack that killed 253 people in Sri Lanka promise more destruction would follow in a chilling video just before they killed themselves on Friday.

The trio had blown themselves up just as police launched a raid on their house in Sainthamaruthu, leaving 15 people dead – including six children.

The disbelieving dogs have closed in on us. We pledge to teach a lesson to all those who are trying to destroy us. The right lesson. Very soon,” says one of the brothers in the video, Rilwan Hashim, who is seated on the floor, wearing a belt with explosives around his stomach.

A battle-scarred man who is blind in one eye with the fingers of his right hand missing bears close resemblance to Mohamed Zahran Hashim, who is believed to be the leader of the terror cell and one of the suicide bombers who carried out the attack on hotel Shangri La on Sunday.

Zainee Hashim, the younger brother of suspected ring leader Zahran, says his final words to the camera, holding an AK47 rifle in one hand, with a small child, identified as his son, seated on his lap: “The killings won’t stop here, even if we are destroyed…you can be sure you will meet more of these attacks in future.”

The terrorist duo’s father, Mohamed Hashim, sitting between his sons calls the video the final call.”

Picture claiming to show the bombers posted on Twitter 
Picture claiming to show the bombers posted on Twitter  CREDIT: TWITTER

The ominous message is punctuated by crying children in the background, in what seems to be a house filled with young children.

The trio filmed their final words just before the police and military officers surrounded their hideout on Friday night in eastern Sri Lanka.

In the fierce battle that ensued, following a tip-off by the officials of the local mosque and their Muslim neighbours, the three men died.

A sister of Zahran confirmed to Reuters that the father and two younger brothers were killed in the Friday night shootout between the terrorist group and the military.

The military spokesman, Brigadier Sumith Atapattu, told The Telegraph on Saturday that at least one of the explosions inside the house was definitely a suicide bombing,” that killed 15 people including six children and three women.

A woman and a child who survived the explosions but remain in critical condition, were later identified by the police as the wife and child of Zahran.

On Saturday, the Isis claimed that three of its fighters blew themselves up during the Friday raid in eastern Sri Lanka.

The Islamic State later said in a statement released on Sunday by Amaq, the group’s propaganda arm that three of its fighters had drawn in the military to the rented house before detonating their explosives.

The statement further said that 17 policemen were also killed in the battle, a claim the police denied.

The Isis statement was accompanied by a picture of Zahran posing with one of his younger brothers, Rilwan who blew himself up on Friday. Both Zahran and Rilwan were named as prime suspects in an intelligence memo weeks before the attack that the government failed to act upon.

The document chronicled the impending attack on churches and the Indian High Commission with names and locations of the suspects.

The latest suicides brings the total number of suicide bombers since Sunday’s attacks to 12, including the pregnant wife of one of the bombers who detonated herself when the police raided the family home hours after the explosions in the churches and hotels.

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