New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she has not seen a shred of evidence to support claims the Easter Sunday massacres in Sri Lanka were a retaliation to the Christchurch mosque attacks.

As the debate rises, officials say that the deadly attack would’ve taken weeks to organise.

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Sri Lanka admits major intel lapses

Sri Lankan State Minister for Defence Ruwan Wijewardene says, "This is a well-planned attack. We have information to say that this attack was carried out by an Islamic extremist group in retaliation for the Christchurch mosque massacre in New Zealand."

The claim of a link to Christchurch is being met here with scepticism. "We haven’t received anything officially, nor have we received intelligence reports that corroborate what has been said in Sri Lanka." Ardern told 1 NEWS.

Analyst Paul Buchanan says all the logistics support that went into perpetrating these attacks "could not have been done in the timeframe from March 15 to last Sunday. Given the divisions within that government on top of the incompetence and negligence displayed in these events, we have a situation where they are likely to be more."

Early April, Sri Lankan officials received warning from foreign intelligence which have angered Sri Lankans. The Sri Lankan president claims that these reports were not known to him and that appropriate actions would have been taken. Those who were informed and ignored the red flags are now having action taken against them.

The Sri Lankan president claims that these reports were not known to him and that appropriate actions would have been taken. Those who were informed and ignored the red flags are now having action taken against them.

Copyright: The Island/ Asia News Network (ANN)