Colombo: Srilanka President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday said that an Islamic extremist believed to have played a key role in Sri Lanka's deadly Easter bombings died in an attack on a Colombo hotel.  

Referring to Zahran Hashim, leader of a local extremist group, ," President Maithripala Sirisena told reporters, "What intelligence agencies have told me is that Zahran was killed during the Shangri-La attack.

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In a video released by Islamic State group,  Hashim claimed the bombings, but his whereabouts after the blasts was not immediately clear.

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President did not immediately clarify what Hashim's role was in the attack on the Shangri-La, one of six bomb blasts that killed over 250 people on Sunday.