US Ambassador to Sri Lanka - Alaina Teplitz - would openly claim foreign groups were most likely behind the attacks. Reuters in an article titled, "Foreign groups likely behind Sri Lanka attacks, U.S. ambassador says," would report:
The scale and sophistication of the Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka suggested the involvement of an external group such as Islamic State, the U.S. ambassador said on Wednesday as the death toll jumped to 359.ISIS itself would also later claim responsibility for the attacks. The Washington Post in an article titled, "Sri Lankan Easter bombings, claimed by ISIS, show the group maintains influence even though its caliphate is gone," would claim:
On Tuesday, video emerged of the suspected ringleader of the attacks and seven followers, their faces obscured by scarves, swearing allegiance to the Islamic State and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The Islamic State also issued a formal communique asserting responsibility for the attacks, which it said targeted Christians and "coalition countries."Absent from US diplomatic statements and Western media reports is any mention of ISIS' inception, its state sponsors, and even admissions by Western intelligence agencies themselves of Washington and its allies' role in the terrorist organization's rise.
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