Sri Lanka indicts IS ‘mastermind’

Sri Lankan prosecutors yesterday indicted the alleged mastermind of the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings along with 24 men they say were co-conspirators in the island's worst single terror attack.

Almost three hundred people including dozens of foreign nationals were killed in the April 21 attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels, in a wave of killings targeting Sri Lanka's Christian community.

Prosecutors have brought over 20,000 charges against the suspects, three of whom have already been accused of terrorism by the US Justice Department.

The suspects are in police custody, but one of them did not appear in court yesterday as he was suffering from Covid-19, officials said, adding that hearings will begin on November 23.

Prosecutors told the court that US and Australian forensic experts assisted investigators in tracking down the backers of the eight-member suicide squad responsible for the attacks.

Sri Lanka authorities have accused their ringleader, Mohamed Naufar, of being the mastermind of the deadly suicide bombings and of being a member of the Islamic State group.