9 bombers, including woman, took part in Lanka blasts; 1 studied in UK

Children sit next to flowers left by mourners near St. Anthonyu00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0099s Shrine in Colombo after the deadly series of blasts that rocked Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. Pic/AFP

Nine suicide bombers, including a woman, were involved in the Easter Sunday bombings at churches and hotels and 60 people have been arrested so far for their suspected links to Sri Lanka's worst terror attack that killed at least 359 people, a top police officer said Wednesday.

The Sri Lankan government had earlier blamed the National Thowfeek Jama'ath (NTJ) for the blasts. However, state minister of defence Ruwan Wijewardena has said the attacks were carried out by NTJ's splinter group. Wijewardena told reporters that the members of the group had differences and the final attack was carried out by a group that left the main NTJ.

The Islamic State group has claimed the attack, although it did not provide direct evidence of its involvement. Wijewardena said there was no evidence at present whether the splinter group had any foreign connections.

A man observes a two-minute silence during a solidarity vigil in Mumbai on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

Of the nine suicide bombers, eight have been identified by the Criminal Investigation Department, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said. The ninth bomber was confirmed as the wife of one of the bombers, he said. He said the death toll on Wednesday rose to 359. Nearly 500 people have been injured in the attack. Sixty people, all Sri Lankan, have been arrested for possible links to the attacks.

Wijewardene said the majority of Sunday's suicide bombers were from well-heeled families. They were also well-educated. He said, "We believe that one of the suicide bombers studied in the UK and maybe later on did his post-graduate in Australia, before coming back to settle in Sri Lanka."

An attack on a fourth hotel on Sunday was foiled, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Tuesday. He also warned that more militants and explosives could still be "out there".

SL President asks defence secretary, police chief to resign over intelligence lapses

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has asked Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and country's police chief Pujith Jayasundara to resign after their failure to prevent the blasts despite having prior intelligence inputs about the attacks, a media report said on Wednesday. In his address to the nation for the first time since the blasts, Sirisena last night said he will make changes in top posts in the security establishment within the next 24 hours. Former Army commander Daya Ratnayake is being considered for the post of defence Secretary, the report added.

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