What is National Thowheeth Jama'ath? Another IS module behind Sri Lankan Easter Sunday attacks

After the ghastly bomb blasts in Sri Lanka that have claimed the lives of nearly 300 people and wounded more than 500, the island nation has blamed National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) for the attacks.

What is National Thowheeth Jama'ath?

National Thowheeth Jama'ath is an Islamic radical group with its belief in deep Islamic ideologies that sometimes have links with Islamic terrorism. It is believed that around 2016, NTJ separated from another radical group Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath (SLTJ).

Even though no one has claimed the dreaded attacks, Sri Lanka believes that this act of extreme violence was carried out by NTJ. The extremist group first came into the radar after they vandalised a Buddhist statue in the country and in 2016, the group leader, Abdul Razik, was arrested for inciting racism.

Even though the group is more prominent in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, they also have their networks in many middle-eastern and European countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, France, the US and the UK.

Motives and ideologies

From the attacks on the church and the five-star hotels, the alleged NTJ has given a similar demonstration of every other Islamic terrorist organisation with their Jihadist ideologies, especially that of Al Qaeda with the suicide bombing.

According to Anne Speckhard, the director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism, the goal of National Thowheeth Jama'ath is not insurrection. Instead, it aims to spread the global jihadist movement to Sri Lanka and to create hatred, fear and divisions in society, reports The New York Times.

However, very little is known about this organisation and their methods but if the outfit is behind the recent blasts in the island nations as per the claims, then it is a rise of new terror wing under the name of communal violence.

Zero precautions even after serious intel

The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the government had intelligence information about possible attacks by the NTJ on Sunday.

According to the reports, Sri Lanka's police chief, Pujuth Jayasundara, had issued the alert to his department a few days back about a possible attack.

Sri Lankan minister Harin Fernando also said that some intelligence officers were aware of the incidence and that there was a delay in action.

He also uploaded a few documents, which he had presented as the information of the attack. "Serious action needs to be taken as to why this warning was ignored", he tweeted.