Indian Police Uncovered a Plot, But Sri Lankan Intelligence Didn’t Act

Indian Police Uncovered a Plot, But Sri Lankan Intelligence Didn’t Act
Sri Lankan Navy soldiers stand guard in front of the St. Anthony's Shrine a day after the series of blasts, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on April 22, 2019. Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—While monitoring the usual channels, Indian police stumbled upon something extraordinary: a detailed plot for what would become the bloodiest attack linked to the ISIS group in South Asia.

Police were investigating suspected sympathizers of the withered caliphate in southern India when a name they had no record of surfaced—National Towheed Jamaat, the Sri Lankan ISIS-backed extremist organization that authorities say conducted the coordinated Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that killed more than 250 people.

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