2 Suicide Bombers Sons of Sri Lankan Spice Mogul

Colombo: Two sons of millionaire businessman and spice trader Mohammed Yusuf Ibrahim were among the suicide bombers who carried out the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka which killed at least 359 and injured hundreds, media reports said.

The brothers – Ilham Ibrahim and Inshaf – blew themselves up as guests queued for breakfast at the Shangri-La and Cinnamon Grand hotels in the capital on Sunday.

According to an investigation officer cited by the Daily Mail, the bombers were in their late twenties and had operated their own “family cell”.

The two were also key members of a local Islamist outfit – National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) – blamed by the Sri Lankan government for the attacks, he said. The Daily Mail reported that one brother gave false identity details when he checked into the hotel but the other gave the real address which led police commandos to their family home in a commercial area of Colombo.

When the Special Task Force raided the house, Ilham Ibrahim’s wife Fatima set off a bomb, killing herself and her two children, the police said. Three police commandos were also killed in the blast. Several extended family members were among those in detention, the daily said.“It was a single terror cell operated by one family. They had the cash and the motivation. They operated the cell and it is believed they influenced their extended family,” the investigation officer was quoted as saying. (IANS)

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