COLOMBO, Apr 23 (AFP): Muslim brothers from a wealthy Sri Lankan family plotted and carried out two of the Easter suicide blasts in Colombo that killed more than 320 people, police sources told AFP Tuesday amid growing questions on whether the attackers received foreign help.
The two sons of a Colombo spice trader were among suicide bombers who hit three churches and three luxury hotels, investigators said.
An attack on a fourth hotel failed and helped lead police to the Islamist group now blamed for the assault, they added in comments later confirmed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The brothers, whose names have not been revealed, were in their late twenties and operated their own "family cell", an investigation officer said.
The pair were members of the Islamist National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) group which the government has blamed for the attacks.
The Islamic State group also claimed responsibility in an official statement for the attacks on the "infidel holiday".
A Sri Lankan minister said the bombers may have struck in revenge for the killing of 50 worshippers in two New Zealand mosques last month.
"Some of them might have travelled abroad and come back," Wickremesinghe told a press conference.
With 321 people dead, including at least 39 foreign nationals, and over 500 wounded, Sri Lanka has declared a state of emergency and launched a desperate hunt to head off more attacks.
At least 40 people were under arrest Tuesday over one of the worst militant strikes ever staged in Asia.
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