Asia Times India bureau chief Saikat Datta and Middle East editor Alison Meuse report on a purported ISIS video claiming credit for the Sri Lanka bombings:

A fresh video has emerged on social media claiming responsibility for the series of bomb attacks on Easter Sunday, April 21 that killed nearly 300 and injured over 500 in Sri Lanka. Earlier today, 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 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.