[Analytics] Suspected ISIS Sri Lanka claim mixes Tamil, Arabic

A video has emerged on an ISIS [the former name of the Islamic State terror group outlawed in Russia] channel in Arabic and Tamil claiming responsibility for the Easter bombings that killed more than 300. Saikat Datta specially for the Asia Times.

A video has emerged on social media claiming responsibility for the series of bomb attacks on Easter Sunday, April 21 that killed at least 310 and injured more than 500 in Sri Lanka. On Monday, cabinet minister and spokesperson, Rajitha Senaratne announced that a local group called the National Thowheeth Jama’at (NTJ) was responsible for the attack.

Interestingly, Senaratne also made it clear that the NTJ was not alone and had the support of “international networks” who could have helped plan the attack and gather the bombs. “We don’t see that only a small organization in this country can do all that,” said Senaratne. “We are now investigating the international support for them, and their other links … how they produced the suicide bombers here, and how they produced bombs like this.”

The video seems to confirm that Islamic State, or ISIS, could be the “international network” behind the NTJ. “We believe that the NTJ were only the foot soldiers and the controllers were some one else,” a senior security official in India told Asia Times. “These are preliminary findings, but there could be several layers of control on such a complex terror operation, involving many people,” he said.

The video

There is no explicit claim about the Easter bomb attacks in the video, but it flashes English text reading: “O Crusaders … This bloody day is our reward to you.” The text is accompanied by the numbers “21/4” — the date of the attack.

Islamic State frequently uses the term Crusaders in its propaganda to castigate Christians and Westerners, the apparent targets of the attacks on Sri Lanka’s churches and luxury hotels.

The video includes a segment in Arabic: an audio clip of the slain Islamic State spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani warning, “Our armies remain in every (mountain and valley); exploding into the bastions of the infidels.”

A photo of Adnani appears on the screen, with Tamil script at the bottom identifying his name and former position. Adnani was killed in August 2016 in an American-claimed air strike in northern Syria.

Then, a voice speaking Sri Lankan Tamil is heard, its content mirroring the Arabic. “Our troops will be everywhere. We will bombard those government (castles), which have enforced only oppression and exclusion.”

The word used for castles in Tamil can be translated to the place where the rules are made, denoting a government building.

Then, images of eight men are shown one by one, each posing before the black flag used by ISIS.

It is believed that the suicide bombers involved in the attack are the men depicted in the video. However, jihadists would normally refer to them as “martyrs” to denote their holy mission. In this video they are labeled as “assailants”.

While there is no official confirmation that the released video is genuine, experts such as Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group, posted a quick analysis of the video. “If these are actually pictures of the attackers (though I stress again that these images are not verified as being from #ISIS), the use of the ISIS-associated black banner, instead of any local organization’s, would make further indication of its role in the attacks.” she tweeted.

The video purports to be from Al Ghuraba Media, which is not an official Islamic State channel, but a platform for its supporters.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of ISIS, was last heard in August 2018, in an audio recording titled ‘Give Good Tidings to the Patient’. In it, he encouraged his supporters to ignore territorial losses and to carry out attacks wherever they may find themselves.

Al Ghuraba means “The Strangers” which references a hadith in the Quran attributed to the Prophet Mohammed: “Islam began as something strange (a stranger) and it will return to its beginnings, as a stranger, so blessed be the strangers.”

With additional reporting by Heba Afify

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