Sisters of bombing suspects: "We don't have any answers"

Updated 5:42 PM ET

The sisters of brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the suspects in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing attack, expressed their sadness and sorrow for the victims of the incident.

In a statement issued through their Newark, N.J.-based attorneys Tuesday, Ailina and Bella Tsarnaev said: "It saddens us to see so many innocent people hurt after such a callous act. As a family, we are absolutely devastated by the sense of loss and sorrow this has caused. We don't have any answers but we look forward to a thorough investigation and hope to learn more. We ask the media to respect our privacy during this difficult time."

Ailina lives in a West New York, N.J., apartment with her husband and baby, and the town's mayor has said her sister has also been at the home. The apartment building remained under police guard Tuesday as the sisters asked that their privacy be respected.

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Their statement was the first comment from either sister since the capture Friday night of the younger of their two brothers.

Early Friday, through a barely open apartment door, Ailina spoke briefly with several news outlets about her brothers. She described the elder brother as a "kind and loving man," said "I have no idea what got into them" and also that "at the end of the day no one knows the truth."

Federal agents also removed a computer from the apartment. West New York Police Director Michael Indri said last week that Ailina had told agents she had not been in contact with her brothers for a long time, and he said he was confident that the FBI had confirmed the claim.

Earlier Tuesday, the mother of the suspects, Zubeidat Tsarnaev, told U.K.'s Channel 4 that her sons had nothing to do with the attack. "I know it," she said. "I am a mother. I know my kids. My kids would never get involved [and] do anything like that."

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and his brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, two ethnic Chechen brothers from southern Russia, are accused of planting two shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs near the marathon finish line last week, killing three people and injuring more than 200. Tamerlan was killed in a getaway attempt after a gunbattle with police.

Katherine Russell Tsarnaeva, the wife of slain suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, is "doing everything she can" to assist federal authorities who are investigating the attacks, her lawyer said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

"She is doing everything she can to assist with the investigation," said Amato DeLuca, the lawyer for Katherine Russell Tsarnaeva. "The report of involvement by her husband and brother-in-law came as an absolute shock to them all."

The lawyer also issued a statement that said Tsarnaeva, whose toddler is the daughter of the late suspect, is "trying to come to terms with these events."