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The pregnant wife of one of the bombers in the Sri Lanka terror attacks detonated a suicide vest, killing herself, her children and three police officers during a raid, it has emerged.
The woman was married to one of two wealthy spice merchant brothers from a prominent family, Sri Lanka's deputy defence minister Ruwan Wijewardene told a press conference.
As more details have begun to emerge of the band of nine, well-educated suicide bombers, including a woman, the country has overhauled its top security establishment after officials failed to act on reports warning of possible attacks before the Easter Sunday bombings that killed more 350 people.
Police pictured at one of the bomber's houses during the Easter Sunday attacks. (Nine Supplied)
Mr Wijewardene confirmed there were nine suicide bombers involved in the attacks on three churches and four hotels. Eight had been identified so far.
"Most of the bombers are well-educated, come from economically strong families. Some of them went abroad for studies," he said.
"One of them we know went to the UK, then went to Australia for a law degree. Foreign partners, including the UK, are helping us with those investigations," he said.
The raids Colombo took place after the blasts. (Nine Supplied)
BOMBERS SONS OF SPICE TYCOON
Two of the suicide bombers involved in the Easter Sunday attacks were members of a prominent and wealthy family in Colombo, sources have told CNN, in a development that has rocked the small Muslim community in the city.
The brothers, Imsath Ahmed Ibrahim and Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim, were among the band of extremists who blew themselves up in Sunday's attacks, two sources with knowledge of the investigation said.
Their father, Mohamed Ibrahim, is the founder of Colombo-based Ishana Exports, which describes itself on its website as the "largest exporter of spices from Sri Lanka since 2006".
Two of the suspects were from wealthy educated families in Colombo. (Nine Supplied)
Mohamed Ibrahim was among dozens of people detained in the wake of the attacks, the sources told CNN.
Video footage shows Ibrahim being led away by police. Authorities have not announced any charges against him.
The brothers are reported to be in their early 30s. Their identities were first disclosed by Indian news outlet Firstpost, citing intelligence sources in India. CNN has not been able to reach Mohamed Ibrahim or other members of his family for comment.
Mr Wijewardene said those responsible for the attacks were well educated, from upper-middle class families, and financially independent.
"That was a worrying factor," he said.
WELL-CONNNECTED
According to neighbours and members of Colombo's Muslim community, the Ibrahims are one of the wealthiest Muslim families in the capital, with connections to the country's business and political elite.
Pamuditha Anjana, a neighbour in the Dematagoda district of Colombo, told CNN the Ibrahim family was "very well-connected, very rich, politically connected as well."
Reyyaz Salley said the older brother was a normal person. Picture: Will Ripley (CNN)
Reyyaz Salley, chairman of Colombo's Dewatagaha Mosque, one of the largest and oldest in the city, said the elder Ibrahim was "a really nice person, a business-minded person who did export of spices."
"We knew him as a normal person and as a businessperson," he said.
The family spice company appears to be linked to a copper factory that was investigated in association with Sunday's attacks. On its website, Colossus Copper states that Ishana Spice is its parent company.
Nine workers at the copper factory appeared in court earlier this week after being arrested on suspicion of providing materials used in Sunday's bombs, according to court papers seen by a source at Colombo Magistrates' Court. They are due back in court on May 6.
Hilmy Ahamed, vice president of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, was aware of Mohamed Ibrahim as a prominent member of the community. He described him as "very rich" and added that his sons were "well educated overseas."
Mr Ahamed doubted Mohamed Ibrahim had any idea of what his sons were planning.
"He was a busy businessman," he said. "He probably totally neglected what was happening around him. I doubt that he had knowledge."
A Sri Lankan police officer patrols out side a mosque in Colombo yesterday. (AP AAP)
OTHER BOMBERS NAMED
British security sources in the UK identified another bomber as Abdul Lathief Jameel Mohamed, saying that he studied in the southeast of England from 2006 to 2007.
Shiral Lakthilaka, an adviser to Sri Lanka's President, identified one of the men who blew himself up at the Shangri-La hotel as Inshan Seelavan, and described him as the "mastermind" of the attacks. Other officials have named a radical extremist, Zahran Hashim, as another key figure in the attacks. His whereabouts are unknown.
Both Mr Ahamed and Mr Salley said they had repeatedly attempted to warn authorities about Hashim, pictured in a photograph released by a news agency affiliated with ISIS on Tuesday.
Hashim, a radical Islamist preacher, was known to the local community for ranting against moderate Muslims and Buddhists.
"We reported him to national intelligence about three years ago," Mr Ahamed said, adding he had taken DVDs of Hashim's preachings to show officials.
"At the end of 2018, in December, when we had this crisis where some youth damaged Buddhist statues, we went back again to intelligence and gave them all the info we had on him and told them they should try to catch him."
This undated image posted by the Islamic State group's Aamaq purports to show Mohammed Zahran, aka Zahran Hashmi, centre, the man Sri Lanka says led the Easter attack that killed more than 350 people. (AP/AAP)
In one of Hashim's videos, uploaded to YouTube and reviewed by CNN, the preacher said that non-Muslims who refused to convert to Islam should be killed.
"If he is a Kafir, he is to be killed according to the Sharia Law," he said on the video, an interpretation of Islam that Ahamed described as "extremist" and incorrect.
Mr Ahamed said that authorities failed to act on the warnings, but added that had not taken Hashim too seriously either, a move he now regrets.
"We are totally embarrassed as a community. We have failed as a community to monitor what was happening in our backyard," he said. "Most of these young people are radicalised online. That is what worries me, as a parent of two young boys. We are always worried that they might be radicalized through the internet."
Mr Ahamed was not the only Muslim leader attempting to raise the alarm about creeping radicalization within the community. Mr Salley, the Dewatagaha Mosque chairman, said that he had repeatedly warned about Hashim's activities.
Mourners carry the coffins with the remains of Berington Joseph and Burlington Bevon, as mass funerals take place for those killed in the Easter Sunday bombings in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (AAP)
SECURITY SHAKE UP
Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s president shook up the country’s top security.
President Maithripala Sirisena said he would change the head of the defence forces within 24 hours, and asked for the resignations of the defence secretary and national police chief in a dramatic internal shake-up.
He did not say who would replace them.
Mr Sirisena said he had been kept in the dark on the intelligence about the planned attacks and vowed to “take stern action” against officials who failed to share it.
- By James Griffiths
© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2019
https://www.9news.com.au/world/news...security/1b0884cc-dde7-490e-9b23-30892482337d
The woman was married to one of two wealthy spice merchant brothers from a prominent family, Sri Lanka's deputy defence minister Ruwan Wijewardene told a press conference.
As more details have begun to emerge of the band of nine, well-educated suicide bombers, including a woman, the country has overhauled its top security establishment after officials failed to act on reports warning of possible attacks before the Easter Sunday bombings that killed more 350 people.
Police pictured at one of the bomber's houses during the Easter Sunday attacks. (Nine Supplied)
Mr Wijewardene confirmed there were nine suicide bombers involved in the attacks on three churches and four hotels. Eight had been identified so far.
"Most of the bombers are well-educated, come from economically strong families. Some of them went abroad for studies," he said.
"One of them we know went to the UK, then went to Australia for a law degree. Foreign partners, including the UK, are helping us with those investigations," he said.
The raids Colombo took place after the blasts. (Nine Supplied)
BOMBERS SONS OF SPICE TYCOON
Two of the suicide bombers involved in the Easter Sunday attacks were members of a prominent and wealthy family in Colombo, sources have told CNN, in a development that has rocked the small Muslim community in the city.
The brothers, Imsath Ahmed Ibrahim and Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim, were among the band of extremists who blew themselves up in Sunday's attacks, two sources with knowledge of the investigation said.
Their father, Mohamed Ibrahim, is the founder of Colombo-based Ishana Exports, which describes itself on its website as the "largest exporter of spices from Sri Lanka since 2006".
Two of the suspects were from wealthy educated families in Colombo. (Nine Supplied)
Mohamed Ibrahim was among dozens of people detained in the wake of the attacks, the sources told CNN.
Video footage shows Ibrahim being led away by police. Authorities have not announced any charges against him.
The brothers are reported to be in their early 30s. Their identities were first disclosed by Indian news outlet Firstpost, citing intelligence sources in India. CNN has not been able to reach Mohamed Ibrahim or other members of his family for comment.
Mr Wijewardene said those responsible for the attacks were well educated, from upper-middle class families, and financially independent.
"That was a worrying factor," he said.
WELL-CONNNECTED
According to neighbours and members of Colombo's Muslim community, the Ibrahims are one of the wealthiest Muslim families in the capital, with connections to the country's business and political elite.
Pamuditha Anjana, a neighbour in the Dematagoda district of Colombo, told CNN the Ibrahim family was "very well-connected, very rich, politically connected as well."
Reyyaz Salley said the older brother was a normal person. Picture: Will Ripley (CNN)
Reyyaz Salley, chairman of Colombo's Dewatagaha Mosque, one of the largest and oldest in the city, said the elder Ibrahim was "a really nice person, a business-minded person who did export of spices."
"We knew him as a normal person and as a businessperson," he said.
The family spice company appears to be linked to a copper factory that was investigated in association with Sunday's attacks. On its website, Colossus Copper states that Ishana Spice is its parent company.
Nine workers at the copper factory appeared in court earlier this week after being arrested on suspicion of providing materials used in Sunday's bombs, according to court papers seen by a source at Colombo Magistrates' Court. They are due back in court on May 6.
Hilmy Ahamed, vice president of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, was aware of Mohamed Ibrahim as a prominent member of the community. He described him as "very rich" and added that his sons were "well educated overseas."
Mr Ahamed doubted Mohamed Ibrahim had any idea of what his sons were planning.
"He was a busy businessman," he said. "He probably totally neglected what was happening around him. I doubt that he had knowledge."
A Sri Lankan police officer patrols out side a mosque in Colombo yesterday. (AP AAP)
OTHER BOMBERS NAMED
British security sources in the UK identified another bomber as Abdul Lathief Jameel Mohamed, saying that he studied in the southeast of England from 2006 to 2007.
Shiral Lakthilaka, an adviser to Sri Lanka's President, identified one of the men who blew himself up at the Shangri-La hotel as Inshan Seelavan, and described him as the "mastermind" of the attacks. Other officials have named a radical extremist, Zahran Hashim, as another key figure in the attacks. His whereabouts are unknown.
Both Mr Ahamed and Mr Salley said they had repeatedly attempted to warn authorities about Hashim, pictured in a photograph released by a news agency affiliated with ISIS on Tuesday.
Hashim, a radical Islamist preacher, was known to the local community for ranting against moderate Muslims and Buddhists.
"We reported him to national intelligence about three years ago," Mr Ahamed said, adding he had taken DVDs of Hashim's preachings to show officials.
"At the end of 2018, in December, when we had this crisis where some youth damaged Buddhist statues, we went back again to intelligence and gave them all the info we had on him and told them they should try to catch him."
This undated image posted by the Islamic State group's Aamaq purports to show Mohammed Zahran, aka Zahran Hashmi, centre, the man Sri Lanka says led the Easter attack that killed more than 350 people. (AP/AAP)
In one of Hashim's videos, uploaded to YouTube and reviewed by CNN, the preacher said that non-Muslims who refused to convert to Islam should be killed.
"If he is a Kafir, he is to be killed according to the Sharia Law," he said on the video, an interpretation of Islam that Ahamed described as "extremist" and incorrect.
Mr Ahamed said that authorities failed to act on the warnings, but added that had not taken Hashim too seriously either, a move he now regrets.
"We are totally embarrassed as a community. We have failed as a community to monitor what was happening in our backyard," he said. "Most of these young people are radicalised online. That is what worries me, as a parent of two young boys. We are always worried that they might be radicalized through the internet."
Mr Ahamed was not the only Muslim leader attempting to raise the alarm about creeping radicalization within the community. Mr Salley, the Dewatagaha Mosque chairman, said that he had repeatedly warned about Hashim's activities.
Mourners carry the coffins with the remains of Berington Joseph and Burlington Bevon, as mass funerals take place for those killed in the Easter Sunday bombings in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (AAP)
SECURITY SHAKE UP
Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s president shook up the country’s top security.
President Maithripala Sirisena said he would change the head of the defence forces within 24 hours, and asked for the resignations of the defence secretary and national police chief in a dramatic internal shake-up.
He did not say who would replace them.
Mr Sirisena said he had been kept in the dark on the intelligence about the planned attacks and vowed to “take stern action” against officials who failed to share it.
- By James Griffiths
© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2019
https://www.9news.com.au/world/news...security/1b0884cc-dde7-490e-9b23-30892482337d
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