The panel appointed by the UN Security Council (UNSC) said in a report that the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka show the continuing appeal of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Libya (ISIL) propaganda and the risk that indigenous cells may incubate in unexpected locations and generate a significant terrorist capability. These and other ISIL attacks on places of worship, alongside the attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019, offer a troubling narrative of escalating interfaith conflict, the specialist monitors at the UNSC said in the report. “The group is currently dependent upon ISIL-inspired attacks, such as the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka which Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi mentioned but which ISIL leadership clearly knew nothing about in advance. Whether or not the Sri Lankan attacks were motivated by the attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019, the narrative of interfaith conflict is concerning,” the report said.. On 21 April, the Easter Sunday suicide bombings against churches and luxury hotels in three cities and seven locations in Sri Lanka resulted in a total of 258 deaths. The bombings were conducted by the local groups National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim (JMI). The UN report said that some of the suicide bombers had travelled to the Syrian Arab Republic and received weapons training from ISIL. The explosives specialists are believed to have studied ISIL methods for constructing improvised explosive devices on the internet and tested the designs before the attacks. Ball bearings, nails, and a combination of chemicals were used in the bombs. Light bulb filaments and washing machine timers were used for initiation. The report said, despite the claim of responsibility by ISIL, member state investigations revealed that the ISIL core did not direct or facilitate the attacks, nor did it know about them in advance. It was a locally instigated and led attack inspired by ISIL ideology. The bombings aimed to boost the global image of ISIL after its military defeat in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic. -Easwaran Rutnam