“Nicholas J. Rasmussen, a former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said the presence of some Sri Lankan fighters in Syria and Iraq raised the prospect of informal connections with members of National Thowheeth Jama’ath still in Sri Lanka.
“’It’s hard to imagine an attack of this complexity without some form of organization and support from a group that has done this kind of thing before,’ Mr. Rasmussen said in an email.
“Lisa Monaco, a former homeland security adviser for President Barack Obama, who also served as assistant attorney general for national security, said that if the attacks in Sri Lanka had been inspired by ISIS, it should serve as a stark reminder to the Trump administration.
“’It’s a reminder that we should not mistake the defeat of the physical caliphate — as important as it is through tremendous efforts by both the Obama and Trump administration — we should not mistake the defeat of the physical caliphate with that of the virtual caliphate,’ Ms. Monaco said…”
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