ISIS claims Sri Lanka attacks, but offers no evidence

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka, according to a statement put out by the terrorist group’s news agency Amaq.

“The attackers who targeted citizens of the (anti-ISIS) coalition state members and Christians in Sri Lanka the day before yesterday were fighters of the Islamic State,” the claim stated.

The statement offered no evidence to support the claim, and there is no direct evidence yet that the terror group was involved. Some of their claims have been false in the past.

Sri Lanka awoke Tuesday to a day of mourning as the country continued to reel over the devastating attacks, which took some 310 lives, including many Christians celebrating Easter Sunday.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe tweeted early Tuesday morning, saying that the country grieved as one.

“Today as a nation we mourn the senseless loss of innocent lives this past Easter Sunday,” he tweeted, spelling out his gratitude for the emergency and security forces who responded to the multiple bombings that tore through three churches, three luxury hotels and two other locations.

He added that it “is imperative that we remain unified as Sri Lankans in the face of this unspeakable tragedy.”

On Monday, the Sri Lankan government admitted that it failed to act on multiple warnings before a coordinated series of attacks ripped through churches and hotels on Easter Sunday, adding that an international terror group might be to blame.

A government spokesman, Rajitha Senaratne, revealed that warnings were received in the days before the attacks, which killed 310 people and injured at least 500 more, including from foreign intelligence services.