Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Lilo · Post by **Lilo** » 23 Apr 2019 09:29

UlanBatori wrote:Who benefits from these attacks?

China

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 Apr 2019 10:02

UlanBatori wrote:Who benefits from these attacks?

SL leadership weakens.
China and Rajpakse benefit.

abhijitm · Post by **abhijitm** » 23 Apr 2019 10:09

This is china's game executed through pakistan. See how 'blame SL gov' game has started.

We need to back Wikramesinghe. otherwise blame that idiot Sirisena , make him take the responsibility and resign.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 23 Apr 2019 10:15

India should not sit on the sideline (here on out). IMHO, this is the other perfect bookend to Balakot. The narrative has to be that no matter who governs SL that the problem, via Pakistan, will remain. So, let the current actors remain in place and the world needs to help solve the terrorist problem. China needs to release her grip in the UN.

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 23 Apr 2019 10:44

Not sure if this was posted earlier - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ ... 914273.ece

NIA got the intel 6 months back from a guy they arrested in TN.

Mukesh.Kumar · Post by **Mukesh.Kumar** » 23 Apr 2019 10:44

Another high profile death. Sheikh Hasinas cousins grandson dies in Colombo blast.

Body of Sheikh Selim’s grandson to arrive in Dhaka tomorrow

Addressing an event in Brunei on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said family members of her cousin Sheikh Selim’s daughter were among the victims of the bomb blasts in Sri Lanka, and urged everyone to pray for them.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Apr 2019 12:09

the situation is being used by cheen pasand elements of SL elites to demand the return of brother of mahinda rajpaksa who was defence minister in 2009 when LTTE was finished, as the new el presidente and "strongman in charge"/ emergency is now already in place and civil rights curtailed. under guide of investigations, political enemies can be punished.

there was already a parliamentary coup in Oct 2018 making the current PM a toothless post.

all is not well in SL democracy and china is trying the same tricks there as in Maldives.

india must make its clear it expects democratic process and fair investigation to be followed else sanctions are on the table.

kit · Post by **kit** » 23 Apr 2019 13:15

The lankans need to seriously rethink whether they can afford to lease their hamborta port to the Chinese for 99 yr !!!.. the Chinese could well be letting Pakis do their dirty work.

nvishal · Post by **nvishal** » 23 Apr 2019 13:47

The SLans were informed of the plot and ignored it. The christian missions are generally viewed as a nuisance by the local population.

anandsgh · Post by **anandsgh** » 23 Apr 2019 13:48

#JustAsking!!
Any Chinese casualty among those 300 life losses??

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Apr 2019 13:54

even if all 300 were cheeni citizens, when have the dragon lords cared for that in pursuit of their geopolitical play.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Apr 2019 14:28

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/22/worl ... -ios-share

100kg of explosives cache was found in january 2019

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 23 Apr 2019 14:32

Rudradev that was a very succinct and astute description of the problem. I have already sent it to some friends, and a few media elements. Including "Now Magazine" in Canada, which had a cover story on "Islamophobia" last week.

Yes, everything has to be generalised under the title of 'communal upsurge in Asia', and clever( or abysmally ignorant) use of terms like 'targeted minorities', thus equating one small incident or verbal outburst somewhere( like India) with a mass serial bombing in Sri Lanka

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Apr 2019 15:22

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-ne ... dDVYI.html

another team is on the loose. the leader returned from qatar.

ArjunPandit · Post by **ArjunPandit** » 23 Apr 2019 16:33

may be I am overly worried, but this islamist attack in SL is a subtle message to India. That India did not have to invest into these areas for their military safety as much as northern India. Most of temples are loosely guarded apart from the money aspect (as compared to major temples in Delhi and UP).
If Xtians in south India are targetted by using free resources it can dent India's image esp in Evangohns and bestern media. Another aspect is economic, these states have provided a stable bedrock of economic prosperity and growth to India and FX. The evanjehadies would not have missed it. North south split is fanned by them. I would not see it in isolation with what has been happening with the russian nuke power plant, tuticoran and some riots in TN, Jalikattu and sabrimalai. Call me paranoid, but the best time to act against these guys was 20 years back the second best time is after new govt comes. Southern India is perhaps the final bastion of vedic knowledge. If we lose that what else hindus have left with, Nepal?
Mods please edit as you deem suitable.

Peregrine · Post by **Peregrine** » 23 Apr 2019 16:56

X Posted on the Terroristan Thread

Lashkar has fanned radicalism inSriLanka Bharti Jain – TNN

NEW DELHI: India had tipped off Sri Lanka several times over the possibility of a jihadi attack and Indian agencies also pointed to Thawheed Jamaat(NTJ) having a number of associates and followers in Pakistan.

Indian intelligence has been tracking the influence of Wahabism, with its hardline Islamic beliefs, in eastern Sri Lanka and warned that the region could develop into an operational zone for Lashkar-e-Taiba and likeminded jihadi groups.

The Pakistan link to violent groups in Sri Lanka was underlined by Lashkar's charity front Falah-iInsaniyat advertising in 2016 its presence in the island nation apart from its activities in Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Somalia. The NTJ has been seeking to harness a growing radicalisation, the seeds of which were sown by Lashkar and its 'charity' wing Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq. The latter was actively engaged in disaster relief activities in Sri Lanka and Maldives after a tsunami struck in 2004.

The sustained attempts by LeT to build bases in Sri Lanka over the past one-and-a-half decade, as part of a broader design to "encircle" India, may have helped the growth of Islamic groups such as NTJ, now named by Sri Lanka to be behind Easter Sunday's serial blasts. India's warnings were perhaps not taken with due seriousness, said sources.

According to Indian agencies, NTJ has been associated with Al Qaeda that has been radicalizing and recruiting young Sri Lankans for global jihad. Later, Sri Lankan youth were learnt to be training in camps in Pakistan. It is understood that intelligence agencies also expressed concerns over Thowheed Jamaat in Tamil Nadu over possible activities related to
radicalization and a fundamentalist orientation.

That Indian intelligence agencies had warned Sri Lanka church blasts retaliation for New about an attack by the NTJ has been corroborated by New York Times which said Indian security agencies had shared "specific intelligence" about a plot by the jihadi group as early as April 4. But the daily suggested that the warning may have gone unheeded.

"The target selection and attack type make me very sceptical that this was carried out by a local group without any outside support, " the NYT quoted Amarnath Amarasingam, a specialist in Sri Lankan extremism at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a counterterrorism research group in London, as saying.

Sources said LeT and LTTE go back to 1992 when they tied up for supply of weapons and training. LTTE, as per agencies, was the first to provide weapons to Muslim radical elements in Sri Lanka. Most of these weapons were taken back by the police, though some seemed to have slipped through.

While the ISI is reported to have helped LeT develop safe houses, a Sri Lankan national Mohammad Sakir Hussain is currently under arrest after conviction in Chennai. He is alleged to be an ISI agent being run by a Pakistani diplomat Amir Siddiqui from Colombo. Siddiqui was working on a plot to attack the US consulate in Chennai as well as naval bases in south India with the help of Hussain.

LeT operative Faiyaz Kagzi, an accused in the 26/11 attacks but acquitted later, had trained German Bakery blasts case convict Mirza Himayat Baig in Colombo. At least 38 Sri Lankan youths are understood to have joined the IS. Around 200 Maldivians travelled to Iraq-Syria in 2014. Maldivian agencies also reported over 50 Maldivian youth trained at LeT camps in Pakistan.

Cheers

srin · Post by **srin** » 23 Apr 2019 17:05

I didn't see this expressed so far, but kudos to the Indian intelligence agencies. Their successes aren't talked about, but failures (even if very few leak past them) are often public and "intel failure" is always first to be blamed. To be able to provide actionable intel - info on the attacks in such detail and the *names* of the attackers - before it has happened and that too, in a neighbouring country, is just awesome.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 23 Apr 2019 17:23

I think this was originally a double hit planned at India, but post Balakot and tight security in India made them divert to Sri Lanka with the Christchurch shooting as an excuse.

The Softer you are miltarilty the easier the target.

Karthik S · Post by **Karthik S** » 23 Apr 2019 17:27

Aditya_V wrote:I think this was originally a double hit planned at India, but post Balakot and tight security in India made them divert to Sri Lanka with the Christchurch shooting as an excuse.

The Softer you are miltarilty the easier the target.

The softer you are politically.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 23 Apr 2019 17:42

Aditya_V wrote:I think this was originally a double hit planned at India, but post Balakot and tight security in India made them divert to Sri Lanka with the Christchurch shooting as an excuse.

The Softer you are miltarilty the easier the target.

plus, there would have been bloodshed in TN and AP coastal areas.

menon s · Post by **menon s** » 23 Apr 2019 17:52

The Chemical used in the detonation is called TATP. Try cyclic acetone tri peroxide....its said that its a favourite of islamic state, the bomber who came in the church at Kochikade, carried it in a back pack, almost 9 kilos heavy (CCTV footage), and detonate them with very heavy efficiency.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 23 Apr 2019 17:54

ArjunPandit wrote:may be I am overly worried, Call me paranoid,

No comment on that, but... I don't get "subtle messsages". I am waaaay too stupid, sort-of like most of the Baboon so what is the point of sending me "subtle messages"?
A bomb blast is rather loud. 8 are 8x the noise. Besides, your thesis points to other targets - sort of like an AAM-Ram wandering around the LOC and colliding/doing soosai blast with (only the tail) of MiGs returning from POK. "Vedic" anything in TN (and KL0 is under threat not from the Islamists (yeah, they will kill all) but from the much more insidious and all-pervading aggression from others such as the Communists, the DK/DMK and the Proselyting parts of Xtianity. The Catholic Church which I believe is the dominant form in SL, being descended from the Portuquese, has very little to do with this, they are too busy acquiring real estate and running banks (the stuff that YC described as "moneylenders occupying the Temple") and other activities too

to mention here.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 23 Apr 2019 18:01

http://www.dailymirror.lk/liveblog/1656 ... L-bombings
Daily Mirror of Sri Lanka reports:

Islamic state has claimed responsibility for coordinated bombings in Sri Lanka which killed 321 people and injured about 500 others, the group’s AMAQ news agency said on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Not sure I believe it, if "Islamic state" means ISIS.

Further,
https://www.apnews.com/f83bed1953f846cbb35b70ad93c12b67

The office of New Zealand’s prime minister says she is aware of comments linking Sri Lanka’s Easter bombings to the mosque attacks in Christchurch, though it hasn’t “seen any intelligence upon which such an assessment might be based.”

The statement came Tuesday after Sri Lanka’s minister of defense, Ruwan Wijewardene, made the claim to Parliament, without offering evidence.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s office also added that it understood “the Sri Lankan investigation into the attack is in its early stages.”

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 23 Apr 2019 18:07

IMO what this has done is to introduce a new "arm" to the inter-religious/inter-ancestry love in SL.
Buddhist-Xtian was there long ago since the Portuguese introduced Xtian Love to SL.
Buddhist-Hindu quite strong until about 1956.
Buddhist-Muslim is quite recent although IIRC the reason Batticoloa/Trincomalee were considered scary many decades ago were because of angry Muslims and Sinhalese who had acquired weapons to ensure Peace.
Hindu-Muslim has ****NOT****** been an issue in SL. Generally go their different ways and don't bother each other. Same as S. TN until recently.
Tamil-Sinhala (linguistic) has been a friction point for a very long time and exploded in the events leading up to LTTE.

But this is a very new factor: Xtian-Muslim.

Now Xtians are not going to be comfortable about Muslims - and vice versa. Xtians are hardly a "minority" in SL. Look at the names of SL ppl that you see. All the Pereiras and Fernandos etc. Look at it this way: So MANY of the Sinhala and Tamil ppl are Xtians. But ONLY Sinhala are going to be Buddhists. I wonder how many Buddhists are left in SL.

I believe the JVP was as much Communist/Chinese-inspired as they were Sinhala. But now that they have Hanbantota the Chinese will be 400% Bissful. So i wonder if the Chinese are the ones who are behind this. Much more likely to be those who want to cause trouble for the Chinese and prefer the extra-parliamentarian Globalistic approach. Like in Libya, Tunisia, Iraq, Syria....

The same ppl who coddled the ISIS until Putinski ruined their plans. The Totally Mod-aerated Child-Beheaders/ Chemical Victims.

Evidence? Ha! Look at all the early pointers to ISIS. False-flag just like in Syria.

Intent? SL is a great prospect to turn into the next Lebanon. Or Syria. Millions of machine-gun, RPG, ATGM sales.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Apr 2019 18:16

ISIS has now released a statement via its Al-Amaq agency that bombers were its people.

so while the foot soldiers may be the local outfit, the high level planning, cash came from its overlords in ISIS...which would inevitably lead back into TSP as thats about the only safe place for ISIS now.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 23 Apr 2019 19:07

twitter

CCTV footage has emerged of a suspected suicide bomber entering St Sebastian's Church in Sri Lanka moments before an explosion.

More on this footage here: http://po.st/8Hsb55

https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1120573391126323202

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 Apr 2019 19:33

Prasad wrote:Not sure if this was posted earlier - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ ... 914273.ece

NIA got the intel 6 months back from a guy they arrested in TN.

Right after the blasts, it was well known that India informed SL about threat to IHC and prominent places. SL security is with President whose office did not inform PM.

Hindu headline is idiotic trying to imply NIA was sitting on info for 6 months.
I don't understand why Tamil folkscwant to make the Towheed attack.on Christians into a TN thing? Those guys did a Jihadi attack in SL.
It's not an ethnic fight.
Next person who claims or posts TN connection will get a warning.
Keep you bias to yourself.

Venkarl · Post by **Venkarl** » 23 Apr 2019 20:21

chetak wrote:
Venkarl wrote:
Any confirmations of Pak Hand? I only wish for such a link to be exposed.
Is it possible for any sneak-ins from Hambantota?
plenty.

four Indian fishermen have been taken into custody by the CG and have been sent for interrogation. They were found loitering on some tiny island close to katchatheevu.

Individual variations of some special ayurvedic treatment may be under administration, even as we speak.

Barely hours after the bombs went off in SL, the IN and CG were placed on high alert all around the coast bordering SL and some ways beyond that.

... good effort Chetak saahib. poor jokes apart.... I was only thinking if Chinese have facilitated these bombings to disrupt SL Govt system.

Hari Nair · Post by **Hari Nair** » 23 Apr 2019 20:25

ramana wrote:
Prasad wrote:Not sure if this was posted earlier - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ ... 914273.ece

NIA got the intel 6 months back from a guy they arrested in TN.
Right after the blasts, it was well known that India informed SL about threat to IHC and prominent places. SL security is with President whose office did not inform PM.

Hindu headline is idiotic trying to imply NIA was sitting on info for 6 months.
I don't understand why Tamil folkscwant to make the Towheed attack.on Christians into a TN thing? Those guys did a Jihadi attack in SL.
It's not an ethnic fight.....

I agree! It appears to be a media attempt to control the narrative away from what it is - a highly symbolic and extremely effective Jidahi attack.

Attacking churches on Easter and hotels where foreigners (including Westerners) stay - is simply what it is - a very visible retribution.

And retribution for what, one may ask? - Only if one is competing to be the next village idiot, which it appears leaders such as Jacinda Arden are, extremely seriously (her recent statement from her office stating she has not "seen any intelligence upon which such an assessment might be based.”). I suppose the sworn affidavit from our very friendly Western neighbour stating their involvement is still awaited?

On that point, there is a vast cultural and language gap between the middle-east based ISIS and the 'peaceful religion' gents who blew themselves up all over Sri Lanka. When it comes to specialised training and indoctrination (which undoubtedly is required for a successful op on such a scale), I am willing to stick my neck out and bet that out our friends across our western border did the necessary 'bridging' or even the complete training for the op. An average mullah or leader of ISIS would not perhaps even know what or who Sri Lanka is or even connect the dots.

I do believe, Aditya's post is right on the money - its a target of opportunity - we have girded our loins and are willing to take the fight, so move on to an alternate and strike the politically weak neighbour:

Aditya_V wrote:I think this was originally a double hit planned at India, but post Balakot and tight security in India made them divert to Sri Lanka with the Christchurch shooting as an excuse....

Hari Nair · Post by **Hari Nair** » 23 Apr 2019 20:50

Hari Nair wrote:
ramana wrote:
Right after the blasts, it was well known that India informed SL about threat to IHC and prominent places. SL security is with President whose office did not inform PM.

Hindu headline is idiotic trying to imply NIA was sitting on info for 6 months.
I don't understand why Tamil folkscwant to make the Towheed attack.on Christians into a TN thing? Those guys did a Jihadi attack in SL.
It's not an ethnic fight.....
I agree! It appears to be a media attempt to control the narrative away from what it is - a highly symbolic and extremely effective Jidahi attack.

Attacking churches on Easter and hotels where foreigners (including Westerners) stay - is simply what it is - a very visible retribution.

And retribution for what, one may ask? - Only if one is competing to be the next village idiot, which it appears leaders such as Jacinda Arden are, extremely seriously (her recent statement from her office stating she has not "seen any intelligence upon which such an assessment might be based.”). I suppose the sworn affidavit from our very friendly Western neighbour stating their involvement is still awaited?

On that point, there is a vast cultural and language gap between the middle-east based ISIS and the 'peaceful religion' gents who blew themselves up all over Sri Lanka. When it comes to specialised training and indoctrination (which undoubtedly is required for a successful op on such a scale), I am willing to stick my neck out and bet that out our friends across our western border did the necessary 'bridging' or even the complete training for the op. An average mullah or leader of ISIS would not perhaps even know what or who Sri Lanka is or even connect the dots.

I do believe, Aditya's post is right on the money - its a target of opportunity - we have girded our loins and are willing to take the fight, so move on to an alternate and strike the politically weak neighbour:
Aditya_V wrote:I think this was originally a double hit planned at India, but post Balakot and tight security in India made them divert to Sri Lanka with the Christchurch shooting as an excuse....

Hari Nair · Post by **Hari Nair** » 23 Apr 2019 20:51

ramana wrote:
Right after the blasts, it was well known that India informed SL about threat to IHC and prominent places. SL security is with President whose office did not inform PM.

Hindu headline is idiotic trying to imply NIA was sitting on info for 6 months.
I don't understand why Tamil folkscwant to make the Towheed attack.on Christians into a TN thing? Those guys did a Jihadi attack in SL.
It's not an ethnic fight.....

I agree! It appears to be a media attempt to control the narrative away from what it is - a highly symbolic and extremely effective Jidahi attack.

Attacking churches on Easter and hotels where foreigners (including Westerners) stay - is simply what it is - a very visible retribution.

And retribution for what, one may ask? - Only if one is competing to be the next village idiot, which it appears leaders such as Jacinda Arden are, extremely seriously (her recent statement from her office stating she has not "seen any intelligence upon which such an assessment might be based.”). I suppose the sworn affidavit from our very friendly Western neighbour stating their involvement is still awaited?

On that point, there is a vast cultural and language gap between the middle-east based ISIS and the 'peaceful religion' gents who blew themselves up all over Sri Lanka. When it comes to specialised training and indoctrination (which undoubtedly is required for a successful op on such a scale), I am willing to stick my neck out and bet that out our friends across our western border did the necessary 'bridging' or even the complete training for the op. An average mullah or leader of ISIS would not perhaps even know what or who Sri Lanka is or even connect the dots.

I do believe, Aditya's post is right on the money - its a target of opportunity - we have girded our loins and are willing to take the fight, so move on to an alternate and strike the politically weak neighbour:

Aditya_V wrote:I think this was originally a double hit planned at India, but post Balakot and tight security in India made them divert to Sri Lanka with the Christchurch shooting as an excuse....

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 23 Apr 2019 20:57

maybe post balakot this was an opportunity for the 'boys to let off some steam' and not attack pakistan itself?

habal · Post by **habal** » 23 Apr 2019 20:59

Is this pakistan military establishment's payback for favours received from China for adamant support for jaish-e-mohammad and other radical groups in pakistan in UN for meeting it's obor ends by destabilizing anti-china status quo, this angle should be probed.

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 23 Apr 2019 21:10

about the theory that the original target was India but they went to SL as a backup post-balakot, would there have been enough time post-balakot to organize a coordinated attack like this one?

Peregrine · Post by **Peregrine** » 23 Apr 2019 21:11

A catastrophic failure
The blame game begins after Sri Lanka bombings

Political infighting may explain why intelligence warnings went unheeded

IN THE AFTERMATH of a co-ordinated series of terrorist suicide-bombings in churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday that left nearly 300 people dead, attention has begun to focus on the goverment’s failure to act on warnings that such an attack was imminent. A bitter political battle between the president, Maithripala Sirisena, and the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, had so crippled the government that it lacked the information to prevent the catastrophe, blamed on a little-known jihadist group.

The victims were mainly Christians who perished while attending Easter services in three churches in Colombo, nearby Negombo and Batticaloa on the east coast. At least 36 foreigners were among the dead in three other explosions at five-star hotels in Colombo. More than 500 people were injured in the explosions.

“We are very, very sorry as a government,” Rajitha Senaratne, its spokesman, said, before repeatedly claiming that Mr Sirisena had failed to give reports of a possible attack to Mr Wickremesinghe. Had he done so, it was implied, the carnage could have been avoided.

He said that national intelligence agencies had issued their warnings as early as April 4th. In a letter on April 9th the chief of national intelligence had even named suspects—a level of detail that is very rare for such warnings. And shortly before the attacks, the spy agencies’ foreign counterparts had again alerted Sri Lankan authorities that places of religious worship, especially of Catholics, and areas with high concentrations of tourists “may be targeted”.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the local head of the Catholic church, said he would have cancelled all Easter masses had this crucial information been shared. The failure to communicate “makes us hold our heads in our hands”.

It was revealed that Mr Wickremesinghe has not even been invited to meetings of the national security council, which are chaired by the president, since October last year. That was when Mr Sirisena abruptly sacked the prime minister and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapaksa, his predecessor as president, before dissolving parliament. But in December Mr Sirisena was humiliatingly forced to reinstate Mr Wickremesinghe as prime minister, after courts ruled the dissolution unconstitutional and illegal.

The large scale and co-ordinated nature of the bombings—with 87 more bomb detonators discovered at Colombo’s main bus station on Monday—point to a high degree of planning and considerable sophistication. The attacks are the first on such a scale since the end of the bloody 27-year civil war with the Tamil Tigers ten years ago, and the deadliest co-ordinated acts of terrorism Sri Lanka has ever suffered. They are the first directed at Sri Lanka’s Christian minority.

Mr Senaratne blamed a local jihadist group called the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) and said the suicide-bombers were Sri Lankan. But he also said the strikes could not have succeeded without an international network. Shiral Lakthilake, a spokesman for the president, separately told journalists that the “involvement of international elements is clear”.

The NTJ is reported to have formed as a splinter of the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath (SLTJ) an ultra-conservative Islamist movement with ties to like-minded groups in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a short distance across the sea. Radical Islamist networks, some fuelled by the rise of Islamic State, have also sprouted up in the broader region, from the Maldives to Bangladesh.

After the carnage more than 1,000 police and soldiers were deployed for security in Colombo alone. A state of emergency covering the whole country is to go into effect at midnight on April 22nd. Mr Sirisena also appointed a three-member panel to investigate the “causes and circumstances of the tragedy” and declared April 23rd a day of national mourning. On Twitter Asanga Welikala, a law lecturer, described this gesture as “absolute rubbish tokenism”.

There was also dismay at the way debate soon descended to political infighting. The attacks, however, have spurred an open discussion about the growth of jihadism in Sri Lanka. The conversation has been muted because of fears of stoking anti-Muslim sentiment. Extremist Buddhists from the Sinhala majority have on occasion attacked Muslims on various pretexts.

But Muslim leaders have started speaking up. Rauff Hakeem, leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, a political party, said that Muslims and their leaders “have to engage in introspection regarding what is happening within the community”. He also said that community had been trying for a very long time, including through its mosques, to tackle the spread of extremism.

Cheers

Hari Nair · Post by **Hari Nair** » 23 Apr 2019 21:22

KLNMurthy wrote:about the theory that the original target was India but they went to SL as a backup post-balakot, would there have been enough time post-balakot to organize a coordinated attack like this one?

Its 'Open Sesame' season in SL I believe... visa on arrival to all in South Asia for quite a while now.
Use of suicide bombers does not take prepping to any great level that cannot be done within 2 months, provided the background radicalisation and logistics / training facilities exist. Some one else does the planning and it does not take much effort to get the materiel into an apparently lax security environment that existed in SL. The Embassy of TSP may have played more than a supportive role here.
The SLs have been supping with the TSP/devil since the 70s ...its come back to haunt them.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 23 Apr 2019 21:51

Sri Lanka Bombings Live Updates: ISIS Claims Responsibility for Attacks

The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Tuesday for the Easter Sunday bombings at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka, as the government there raised the number of people killed to 321. The group’s Amaq news agency called the bombers “Islamic State fighters.”

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 23 Apr 2019 22:02

A_Gupta, 'Islamic State' in this context means Af-Pak based IS-Khorasan or IS-K.

mmasand · Post by **mmasand** » 23 Apr 2019 22:23

This is a very insightful thread by a Lankan journo, the attack of this magnitude could not have been hatched in a month with near military precision. There is more to it than meets the eye, obviously something that the Lankans are with not aware or won't reveal for political reasons. I for one would like to think it's the latter as they have a very good intelligence set up.
https://twitter.com/rcallimachi/status/ ... 09921?s=19

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 23 Apr 2019 22:25

SL contemplating banning the burkha.

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/s ... 2019-04-23