Sri Lanka points to Islamic militants in series of attacks on churches and hotels
After a day of deadly Easter Sunday attacks, counterterrorism expert Bobby Chacon says the massacre shows the radical ideology is spreading.
Speaking in the wake of the Easter Sunday massacre in Sri Lanka, a counterterrorism expert told Fox News radical Islamic terrorism is spreading beyond the Middle East and is "happening more and more."
Bobby Chacon, a counterterrorism expert, told "Fox & Friends" Monday that violence on Christians on one of the holiest days of the calendar is nothing new, but claimed the deadly ideology behind the attacks is spreading.
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"It's another sign that the Middle East is not the sole source of these attacks and that we'll see more of these attacks in places where we've seen relative stability," Chacon said. "These countries need to get a grip on it."
His comments come after an attack, reportedly from the local militant group named National Thowheek Jaamath, killed nearly 300 and injured hundreds more to a church and several hotels in the Indian subcontinent. Police arrested 13 suspects in connection with the bombings.
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He added: "I would not be surprised if the investigation determines that there was significant assistance coming from groups outside that country to support an operation like this. It was a very coordinated, very planned - this small, local group in Sri Lanka, while it could have carried out an attack like this - I doubt that they did so without material support from outside."
The retired FBI special agent went on to claim there are a lot of attacks on Christians that are underreported.
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The Sri Lanka bombings came just days after ISIS claimed its first attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo that killed three Congolese soldiers and wounded five others. Officials reportedly found terrorist manuals on the bodies of the fighters.
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"In areas where there is already civil wars or certain civil dissent going on," Chacon concluded, "it's a hotbed for them to take advantage of the dissent that's already happening to spread their ideology."