Wanted leader behind Sri Lankan blasts died in hotel attack: President
Published: 26 April 2019, 3:22:29
Sirisena did not immediately clarify what Hashim’s role was in the attack on the Shangri-La, one of six bomb blasts that killed over 250 people on Sunday.
Security forces had been on a desperate hunt for Hashim, believed to be around 40, after the government named the group he led – the National Thowheeth Jama’ath – as its prime suspect.
His appearance in the Daesh video, where he is seen leading a group of seven others in a pledge of allegiance to Daesh chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, only heightened fears about the radical.
He was a relative unknown before the attacks, though local leaders say they had reported him on more than one occasion to authorities for his extremist views and behaviour.
