Zahran Hashim, an Islamic extremist linked to the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia), who is believed to have played a key role in Sri Lanka's deadly Easter bombings, had died, Sri Lankan police said on Friday
NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th April, 2019) Zahran Hashim, an Islamic extremist linked to the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia), who is believed to have played a key role in Sri Lanka's deadly Easter bombings, had died, Sri Lankan police said on Friday.
"The leader of Jamaat al-Tawhid al-Watania, who coordinated the bombings in Sri Lanka, died in the Shangri-La hotel," the police said on Twitter without providing details on the circumstances of his death.
On Easter Sunday, Sri Lanka was shaken by a series of coordinated attacks that left around 250 people dead. These attacks, which targeted churches and luxury hotels, were the worst the country has faced since the end of its 25-year-old civil war in 2009. The IS reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks on Tuesday.
A video released by IS after it claimed responsibility for the bombings reportedly appears to feature Hashim at the moment he was swearing allegiance to the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Sri Lanka launched a criminal investigation immediately after the attacks, already having arrested over 100 suspects.
