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Sri Lanka is stepping up arrests in its hunt for suspects after the attacks on the country on 21 April. During raids in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, security forces arrested 18 new people, police said. They are in addition to the 40 previously arrested.
They are rich, educated and some have even lived in the West. Here is a sketch of the profile of terrorists, prepared this morning by the Deputy Minister of Defense, reports our special envoy to Colombo Sébastien Farcis . According to the minister, the police have the identity of eight of the nine terrorists, including seven men and one woman. All are Sri Lankan.
One of the kamikazes went to university in England, before pursuing a master's degree in Australia. Two others are brothers, from a wealthy family of Colombo spice traders. All in all, says the minister, they are well educated and come from the upper middle class. Their act of barbarism, therefore, has nothing at first sight of a revolt of poor and oppressed Muslims. It is also a fairly common profile of contemporary Islamist terrorists, who have become radicalized during their travels abroad and their contacts with extremist movements in the Middle East, and have the means to organize such attacks. .
This is why many speak here of " imported " terrorism, because the local Muslim community does not recognize itself in this hostility to Christians. There has never been any such conflict between these two minorities in the country.
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100 to 120 radicalized individuals within NTJ
The police questioned the central role played in these attacks by a Muslim preacher, Zahra Hashim, and the involvement of a local Islamist group, the National Thowheeth Jama'ath . " Organizations like the National Thowheeth Jama'ath have been on the ground for decades, " reports Vikram Rajakumar, a Singapore consultant on security and terrorist threat issues at Jelena Tomic's microphone.
" They do charity work for the poorest, raise money for free education, or provide ambulance services in rural areas. They are non-governmental organizations with no links to terrorist organizations. However, and I emphasize that, there are a number of individuals within these organizations who have embraced radical Islamist ideology. Our analysis of profiles on social networks identified between 100 and 120 radicalized individuals. "
Do the NTJ and the Islamic State Organization work together?
As to whether the NJT has received any assistance from the Islamic State organization in developing these suicide attacks, " it is very difficult to know at this stage of the investigation," Zahra Hashim said. In my opinion, the Islamic State group will always claim attacks like these. But if we observe the coordination of attacks and their modus operandi, it is more than likely that an organization is behind the wave of attacks, not necessarily the IS. The authors could not act alone and certainly benefited from the support of experts in explosives manufacturing. "
" In Sri Lanka, the LTTE, the Liberation Tigers movement of Tamil Ilam, was famous for their suicide attacks, " he said. It may well be that a former artificer of this movement is still active. The investigation will have to demonstrate it. "
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" It is very likely that attacks like Sri Lanka are reproducing " in Southeast Asia
The expert admits he did not anticipate an attack of such magnitude in Sri Lanka. The latter " was in last position on [his] list of countries that could be hit by radical Islamism," he says. Simply because this country has an extremely rigorous security network. Ten years ago, Sri Lanka got rid of the LTTE. In a country rebuilding after this war, radical Islamism was the last thing that could happen to it. No expert could have foreseen that. The resurgence of the LTTE, perhaps, but not an attack of radical Islamists of this magnitude. "
" Southeast Asia has always been a hotbed for fundamentalists' activities," he recalls. When we talk about Southeast Asia, we think in particular of Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia. As a result, attacks like Sri Lanka are very likely to happen in the region. "
Experts have noted the interconnection of small radical Islamist groups in Southeast Asia, who organize themselves into a network for greater efficiency, reports Zahra Hashim. " This is something we found at the end of the Marawi siege in the Philippines. Small groups have joined forces to strike together, rather than on their own. "
" I think ISIS is not able to mobilize forces on the ground," he says. On the other hand, they are very good at influencing movements via social networks. And I am convinced that it is by this means that they mobilize the troops in Southeast Asia, to strike on the ground. "
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