Easter bombs had explosives not used before by military, LTTE: Sources

• Islamic State had used such explosives in most parts of the world

By Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya 

The explosives used for attacks on Easter Sunday have been engineered by terrorists and have hitherto not been used by the military or the LTTE, sources said. 

They said the explosives were believed to have been formed by fusing several chemicals. It was also revealed that the bombers had used bulb filament to detonate the bombs. 
It was hard to believe that bombers had used military grade explosives because investigators could not find such items from the backpack of bombers. Explosives such as TNT and RDX were not found among them.  According to sources, the Islamic State (IS) had used such explosives in most parts of the world and a devastating explosion could take place if the right amount of chemicals was combined. Investigators suspect such techniques may have been obtained from overseas.  Following the attacks on April 21, the police raided a house in Panadura which was allegedly used by the suicide bombers. Sources said there was evidence to prove chemicals were mixed at the location to create explosives. The police recovered three burned cans suspected to have been filled with chemicals, sketches and several devises including incandescent bulbs. The house had been cleaned by the bombers to erase traces.  Sources said they were able to recover a bulb filament from the body of one of the bombers of Shangri-La Hotel. The filament recovered was similar to the bulbs found from the house in Panadura. Sources said the devices and other items recovered from the suicide bombings were handed over to a laboratory for thorough examination.