He was previously considered a planner of Easter attacks in the island state of Sri Lanka, now rumors of his death in one of the attacks are confirmed: Zahran Hashim, head of the Sri Lankan Islamist National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ), is dead, said the head of state Maithripala Sirisena.
The security authorities said that Hashim blew himself up at the Shangri-La Hotel in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo. Hashim was suspected by the security authorities, one of the planners of the total of eight terrorist attacks in three cities of the island nation with more than 250 dead.
REUTERS
Image of suspected suicide bomber at the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo, on Easter Sunday
Hashim has also been at the center of a Confessional video of the jihadist militia "Islamic State" (IS). The extremist had thousands of supporters in online media, he published inflammatory sermons on YouTube and Facebook. The NJT is said to have founded Hashim the NTJ in 2014.
According to authorities, 253 people were killed and 485 others injured in the suicide attacks on Easter Sunday in several churches and hotels. The government in Colombo blames the NTJ for the attacks, but believes that it must have had foreign support.
Head of state Sirisena criticizes security authorities
President Sirisena said it was looking for about 140 people who should have connections to the IS. There are also close links between drug smugglers and extremists in Sri Lanka.
Video from surveillance camera shows suspected assassin
Reuters / SPIEGEL ONLINE
The head of state renewed criticism of his security authorities, according to which warnings of a serious terrorist attack were not passed on correctly. Despite warnings from "friendly states" intelligence services, neither the Minister of Defense nor Sri Lanka's head of police at a mid-April meeting had informed him of a looming threat. The police chief had submitted his resignation to him.