The leader of the extremist group, which has planned multiple suicide attacks in Sri Lanka, was killed in one of the explosions in the attack, President Maithripala Sirisena said.
Sirisena told reporters that it was confirmed that Zaharan Hashim blew himself up with a bomb in one of the luxury hotels that, along with churches, were the targets of Sunday's attacks. This information was confirmed by local investigators.
According to him, the radical priest Zaharan Hashim died in the Shangri-La hotel in the capital, Colombo, the BBC reports. He allegedly led the attack on that hotel and was accompanied by another bomber identified as Ilham.
Sirisena also said that Sri Lankan intelligence services believe there are about 130 suspected Islamic State-linked individuals in the country and that police are looking for 70 of them who are still on the run.
The bomber, known as Zaharan, led the National Thowheeth Jama'ath group and spread extremist ideology in various parts of the country. Zaharan is responsible for organizing attacks on Buddhist statues in central Sri Lanka in December.
A senior military official told a news conference that they had closely studied Zaharan's facial features on available surveillance camera footage and compared them with those of the suicide bomber and determined that he had died. DNA testing is underway to confirm this.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan health authorities downplayed the death toll from Sunday's attacks, saying they could confirm the death toll at 253. Previously, the police announced that 359 people had died.
Security in Sri Lanka has been raised to an even higher level and many mosques have canceled Friday prayers due to the security situation.
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