#Sri Lankan Bomb Blast

[hussyknee]

I saw someone saying that 2012–2017 felt a lot longer than 2017–2022 and holy fuck they're right.

Probably because 2020–2022 has felt like one long never-ending year and it's still not over.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 5.1 (after 1950)

1956 – The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public. 1957 – A Vickers VC.1 Viking crashes while attempting to return to Blackbushe Airport in Yateley, killing 34. 1960 – Cold War: U-2 incident: Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Sverdlovsk Oblast, Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis. 1961 – The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections. 1970 – Vietnam War: Protests erupt in response to U.S. and South Vietnamese forces attacking Vietnamese communists in a Cambodian Campaign. 1971 – Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) takes over operation of U.S. passenger rail service. 1975 – The Särkänniemi Amusement Park opens in Tampere, Finland. 1978 – Japan's Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone. 1982 – Operation Black Buck: The Royal Air Force attacks the Argentine Air Force during Falklands War. 1990 – Angolan Civil War: The MPLA and UNITA agree to the Bicesse Accords, which are formally signed on May 31 in Lisbon. 1993 – Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa is assassinated in Colombo in a suicide bombing carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. 1994 – Three-time Formula One champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix. 1999 – The body of British climber George Mallory is found on Mount Everest, 75 years after his disappearance in 1924. 2003 – Invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended". 2004 – Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, celebrated at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin. 2009 – Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden. 2011 – Pope John Paul II is beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI. 2018 – Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) resumes the Deir ez-Zor campaign in order to clear the remnants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from the Iraq–Syria border. 2019 – Naxalite attack in Gadchiroli district of India: Sixteen army soldiers, including a driver, killed in an IED blast. Naxals targeted an anti-Naxal operations team. 2019 – Naruhito ascends to the throne of Japan succeeding his father Akihito, beginning the Reiwa period.

[sam-672]

International Probe: Sri Lankan president rejects international probe into Easter bombings, slams West for its double standards

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe has ruled out having an international-aided independent probe into the 2019 Easter bombings by a local Islamist extremist group as he slammed the Western media for its double standards. Nine suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS carried out a series of devastating blasts that…

[the-cheese-tyrant]

Guys if there is anyone from Sri Lanka or living in Sri Lanka, please stay safe. DO NOT step out of your houses. DO NOT go to any public places, especially in Colombo. And please pray that we would be safe and pray for the victims and their families who have got injured or died.

Its horrifying that someone would target Christian/ Catholic churches on this Easter Sunday and attack the hotels in central Colombo. But don't spread hate to anyone. All we can do for now is pray and give our utmost help to the victims or anyone else in need.

In addition, if you're using instant messaging apps like WhatsApp or social media like Twitter please please dont share fake news. And don't share pictures of the incident. Only forward confirmed facts.

UPDATE -

Update - Guys thank you so much for the prayers and support. It's heartwarming to know that you guys are there for us.

I'm sad to say that so far the death toll is 207 and more than 500 have being injured. 35 of the victims are foreigners. And I cannot deny the fact that the death toll can rise again :(

What's scary, is that when one place is attacked, we generally seek safety in our cities and other provinces. But in this attack the attack was in the heart of our metropolitan city (Colombo), another attack further north of the Colombo district (Negombo) and another attack on Eastern province of the Island (Baticaloa). This shows the attacks could have happened anywhere in the country.

It's pure evil that someone chose to attack people in churches on Easter Sunday, a holy day for Christians (a day that is more important than Christmas), a day that should be full of joy. To attack people in a place where people seek physical and spiritual safety. To attack people who just wanted to enjoy an Easter breakfast with their loved ones in a hotel.

Hopefully things will get better now. Our police have already captured 13 suspects and defused a number of other bombs before it blasted. Its doubtful the attackers would attack again because they would not want to attract any more attention to themselves.

I just want to add, what I love about my fellow citizens is that everyone is ever willing to help. When hospitals requested for people to donate blood, so many rushed to the hospital that the hospital had to issue an official notice telling people to stop coming because so many had donated blood already and they had more than enough donations.

Our government has set an island wide curfew to protect us. We are not allowed to step out of our houses until they lift the curfew around tomorrow. That's a good thing because they're ensuring our safety. Schools and universities have being closed too.

Our government has also blocked social media and instant messaging apps. This is because a lot of fake news was being spread online. It was also because people were manifesting hate speech against Muslims. Yes, its semi-confirmed that some Islam-extremists were behind this, but this does not give anyone the reason to spread Islamophobia. Our 'multi-cultural' country has faced so much of ethnic and religious clashes and violence ranging from a 30 year civil war to ethnic genocide to fatal riots. Unless its someone who feeds off violence, no Sri Lankan wants this to happen again. Religious extremists do not represent an entire religion or ethnicity. We want justice. We want to punish the attackers. But we don't want any innocent people to be blamed just because they belong to the same ethnicity or religion as the terrorists.

As a Sri Lankan Christian, I just want to say please don't use this horrible disaster to spread prejudice and racism. Instead continue to pray for our safety, for the families who lost their loved ones and for all those who were injured. Pray that no one will have to face this experience ever again.

Again, all Sri Lankans are ever so grateful for the support the world has given us. Thank you thank you so much.

[npr]

Sri Lanka held its first mass funerals on Tuesday for victims of the Easter Sunday attacks, a string of bombings at churches and hotels that has left a nation in mourning. The death toll rose to 321 people since the first blasts.

In Negombo, about 20 miles north of the capital, Sri Lankans gathered at St. Sebastian's church after going through body checks. Security forces stood guard at the edges of the crowd, protecting men and women who sang solemn hymns through tears. Each casket was brought to a plot of land to be buried. Flowers, candles and white crosses adorned the fresh graves.

At the Cinnamon Grand hotel in the capital, Colombo, a spokesperson tells NPR that staff held a private funeral with religious leaders from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Muslim communities — Sri Lanka's main religious groups.

There were 15 guests and five staff members who died in the hotel's restaurant. One of the employees was not working, the spokesperson says. Instead, T.A.A. Yaheya was celebrating his birthday with his family. His wife and child survived.

"We need to say our goodbyes," the spokesperson said. "There is a sense of sadness and loss."

Mass Funerals Begin In A Grieving Sri Lanka

Photo: Carl Court/Getty Images

[sadmmann]

Victims of the attack in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan authorities have confirmed that 253 people were killed in a wave of suicide bombings on the island on Easter Sunday. This list does not include all the victims 

Shantha Mayadunne and Nisanga Mayadunne

The Sri Lankan TV chef Shantha Mayadunne and her daughter Nisanga were killed in the blast at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo. Nisanga posted a picture on Facebook shortly before the explosion with the title “Easter breakfast with my family”.

Anita Nicholson, Alex Nicholson and Annabel Nicholson

Anita Nicholson, a 42-year-old lawyer based in Singapore, her son, Alex, 14, and daughter, Annabel, 11, died when a suicide bomber detonated a device in the breakfast queue at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo. Ben Nicholson, 43, was the only person in his family to survive the attack.

Zayan Chowdhury

The eight-year-old, a relative of the Bangladeshi prime minister, was killed while having breakfast with his father at a hotel in Colombo, when a suicide bomber detonated his device.

Sally Bradley and Bill Harrop

Sally Bradley, a GP, and her husband, Bill Harrop, a retired firefighter, were from Manchester but lived in Perth, Australia. They died in the Cinnamon Grand hotel bombing.

Amelie Linsey and Daniel Linsey

Amelie, 15, and her brother, Daniel, 19, were killed at the Shangri-La hotel on the final day of their holiday while trying to escape the first blast, according to family members.

Rui Lucas

The Portuguese citizen, an electrical engineer aged 31, was on his honeymoon with his wife, Sílvia Ramos, when he was killed. He had gone to get some more food from the buffet when the bomber struck, the Portuguese newspaper Correio da manhã reported.

“She told me that it was all very fast. He got up and soon after there was an explosion and the room filled with smoke. After she managed to see Rui. He was in front of her, dead,” a family friend who had spoken with the widow told the paper.

Kieran Shafritz de Zoysa

A fifth grader at the prestigious Sidwell Friends school in Washington DC, Kieran Shafritz de Zoysa had been on a leave of absence from the school for a year, living in Sri Lanka, the New York Times reported.

Dieter Kowalski

The 40-year-old Denver resident was killed during a business trip for the publisher Pearson. "And the fun begins," he posted on Facebook. "Love these work trips. 24 hours of flying. See you soon Sri Lanka!

Monique Allen

Allen, 54, a Dutch citizen, was on holiday in Sri Lanka with her husband and three sons. She had gone down for breakfast with one son, while her husband and two other sons stayed upstairs. While they were eating, the bomber attacked, a Dutch paper reported.

Rangan Fernando, his wife Danadiri and their children

As a result of the attack on the church of St. Sebastian in Negombo, the whole family died - Rangana Fernando, his wife Danadiri and their three children. The eldest daughter of the couple, Biola (third from right) was six years old, Leone is four years old, and the youngest child, Seth, is only 11 months old.

Ramesh Raju, hero of Zion church

Raju was at the Easter service at Zion evangelical church in Batticaloa when a stranger carrying a large backpack tried to enter, saying he wanted to film the service. But Raju told the man he could not enter with a large bag and forced him outside the church. Just after he did so, the bomb detonated, the BBC reported.

He leaves behind a wife, Chrishanthini, who was a Sunday school teacher, and two children, all of whom were attending the service with him.

Sharon and Sarah Santhakumar

Twelve-year-old Sharon and his 11-year-old sister, Sarah, were among a large group of children killed at Zion church. They were clustered near the door after finishing Sunday school class. The siblings were buried next to each other the day after they were killed, the BBC reported.

Berlington Joseph Gomez, Chandrika Arumugam and three children Bevon, Clavon and Avon

Berlington Joseph Gomez, 33, and his wife, Chandrika Arumugam, 31, and their three sons, Bevon, 9, Clavon, 6, and Avon, 11 months, were all killed in the blast at St Anthony’s shrine in Colombo. “All family, all generation, is lost,” Gomez’s father told Associated Press.

Manik Suriaaratchi and Alexendria Suriaaratchi

Manik Suriaaratchi and her 10-year-old daughter, Alexendria, were killed in the blast at St Sebastian’s in Negombo. Originally from Melbourne, Australia, they had moved to Sri Lanka five years ago.

Sudesh Kolonne, the husband and father of the two killed, had been standing outside the church when the blast hit. “I heard a huge noise and I jumped into the church and I saw that my wife and my daughter were on the floor,” he told the ABC.

“I just saw my daughter on the floor and I tried to lift her up, [but] she was already dead. And, exactly the same … next my wife is there. That’s the end of the story of my daughter, my wife.”

Subramani Christopher

Christopher, 28, was a driver and odd jobs man who died in the blast at St Anthony's church in Colombo. He was originally from Akuressa in the south of the country, but was working in Colombo, where he lived in a tiny house near the church for which he paid 10,000 ($57; £44) rupees a month. He had been married only 11 months. He had gone to church with his wife and infant son on Easter. His wife and child survived but he did not.

Enosh Silva

Enosh , 12, of Sri Lanka, was one of several children killed at St. Sebastian’s church, his father told Agence France-Presse. 

 Agnes, Alfred and Alma Povlsen

Three children of the billionaire fashion tycoon behind Asos also died. Anders Holch Povlsen, Denmark’s wealthiest man and one of the largest landowners in Scotland, lost three of his four children. A spokesman for his company declined to give further details.

Many victims were citizens of other countries who came on vacation or on a business trip to Sri Lanka:

BRITAIN:

Sri Lanka's top diplomat in Britain says authorities know of eight British nationals killed in the bombings.

Among them were lawyer Anita Nicholson, son Alex Nicholson and daughter Annabel Nicholson, her husband, Ben Nicholson, confirmed in a statement.

INDIA:

Indian officials say eight Indians died in the attacks.

DENMARK:

The Bestseller clothing chain confirmed Danish media reports that three of the children of its owner, business tycoon Anders Holch Povlsen, were killed in the attacks.

SPAIN:

Spain's Foreign Ministry says a Spanish man and woman were killed but didn't provide further details.

AUSTRALIA:

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison says two Australian citizens were killed.

CHINA:

Chinese state media say two of the country's citizens died in the blasts.

UNITED STATES:

The State Department says at least four Americans were killed and several others seriously injured. It gave no details about the victims' identities.

SWITZERLAND:

The Foreign Ministry says two Swiss nationals, one of whom also had the citizenship of another country it didn't name, died in the attacks. It said a third member of the family, who had two non-Swiss citizenships, also was killed. It didn't identify the victims.

OTHERS:

The Netherlands, Japan and Portugal have also confirmed their nationals were among the dead.

I am very sorry that I can not tell you about all the dead people in this terrible and senseless terrorist attack. I am very sorry that this happened. Remember

[yahoonewsphotos]

PHOTOS: Bombings turn Easter into tragedy in Sri Lanka

Coordinated bombings turned Easter Sunday festivities into a national tragedy in Sri Lanka, killing at least 290 people and wounding more than 500 others. The nine blasts mainly targeted churches and luxury hotels in the country's deadliest violence since its civil war ended a decade ago.

The blasts destroyed ceilings and blew out windows. People carried victims out of blood-spattered pews.

Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne says all of the suicide bombers were Sri Lankan citizens from a domestic Muslim militant group named National Thowfeek Jamaath, but that authorities suspect foreign links.

Police says 13 suspects have been arrested, though there was no immediate claim of responsibility. The Foreign Ministry says the bodies of at least 39 foreigners from a number of countries, including the United States, Britain, India, China, Japan and Portugal, have been recovered. The island nation is a popular tourist destination. (AP)

Photos: Eranga Jayawardena/AP, Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images (2), Tharaka Basnayaka/Bloomberg via Getty Images

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr.

[bichristian]

I was heartbroken when I heard about the attacks today. Please pray and, if you are able to, donate resources for our Sri Lankan siblings.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/21/asia/gallery/sri-lanka-blasts/index.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/live-news/sri-lanka-bombings-explosions-easter-sunday-colombo-churches-hotels-2019-04-21-live-updates/

[carminavulcana]

At least 138 people have been killed and 400 injured in serial bomb blasts in churches in Sri Lanka. People were gathered to celebrate Easter Sunday when these attacks took place. So far, no group has claimed responsibility. Sri Lanka is a Buddhist-majority country with 6% of the population identifying as Catholic. What has happened is beyond horrifying. We are sending prayers to the injured and to the families who have lost loved ones. There is very little to do from so far away but we should be standing in solidarity with our Sri Lankan brethren as their country deals with this terrible tragedy. Dear Sri Lankan friends, my inbox is open if you would like to talk or just be heard. All my love and blessings to you.

Update- Two more blasts happened in the afternoon and the death toll has now crossed 160. According to some news outlets, it is 185. The Sri Lankan government has temporarily blocked access to Facebook, Whatsapp, and Viber. This is the worst terror attack of the decade.

Update 2- The death toll has soared to 290 and over 500 people are injured. A radical Islamist group called National Tawheed Jamaat has claimed responsibility for this unspeakable crime. And some reports suggest that they have links to ISIS. This is a nightmare. There are no words. None. It baffles me no end that there exist people who kill real flesh-and-blood humans to gain favor with a God they have never seen and for whose existence they have no proof.

[hussyknee]

The little room, like much of Sri Lanka, could hold no more grief.

All day Monday, through the steamy heat, mourners quietly stepped inside and paused in front of a sealed coffin containing what was left of Sneha Savindi Fernando.

Sneha was 11 years old and standing in line for communion at Easter Mass on Sunday when she was blown apart.

“Why did you leave me?” her grandmother cried, sitting in front of the coffin and rubbing its sides, the anguish tight in her hands. “There are so many bad people in the world. Why kill the innocents?”

Around 8:30 a.m., Ms. Silviya’s son asked to see a fish tank at the front of the church. Ms. Johnson, 47, told them to go look. That was the last time they spoke. Minutes later, an enormous blast rang out.

“People were in pieces,” Ms. Silviya, 26, said. “Blood was everywhere. I closed my son’s eyes, took him out, passed him off to a relative and ran back inside to look for my family.”

Ms. Johnson was bleeding from her nose and eyes; family members tried to lift her off the ground. She was gasping. “I told her, ‘Don’t be scared, just breathe,’” Ms. Silviya recalled.

Outside, an ambulance attendant told Ms. Silviya that they were too overwhelmed to take Ms. Johnson to the hospital. The family put her in an auto-rickshaw.

Ms. Johnson died on the way. Doctors told the family a large vein had burst, causing internal bleeding.

India, a close ally of Sri Lanka’s, has been watching the entire South Asia region for any sign of activity by Al Qaeda or the Islamic State. And Indian security agencies had been scrutinizing the movements of National Thowheeth Jama’ath’s leader, Mohammed Zaharan, a known extremist who has spent time in both India and Sri Lanka, and who in recent years has preached hateful messages online.

As early as April 4, the Indians provided the Sri Lankans with cellphone numbers and information about Mr. Zaharan and his lieutenants who they said were planning suicide attacks on Catholic churches and the Indian Embassy in Sri Lanka, several Sri Lankan and Indian officials said.

The Sri Lankan security services then ran down addresses and put several members of the group under close surveillance.

The April 11 memo included precise information, such as the observation that Mr. Zaharan’s brother, an avid recruiter for the group, “visits his wife and children in the nights (2300hrs -0400hrs)” and it listed an exact address, down to a house number and cross street.

But with Sri Lanka’s president and prime minister feuding for months, leading to a political breakdown last year, it seems that the president excluded the prime minister from top security briefings and that the prime minister’s office had no inkling of the warnings of imminent suicide attacks.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 1.2 (after 1960)

1963 – Vietnam War: The Viet Cong wins its first major victory, at the Battle of Ap Bac. 1967 – Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of California. 1971 – The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic association football (soccer) match. 1974 – United States President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 mph in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo. 1975 – At the opening of a new railway line, a bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways. 1975 – The Federal Rules of Evidence are approved by the United States Congress. 1976 – The Gale of January 1976 begins, resulting in coastal flooding around the southern North Sea coasts, affecting countries from Ireland to Yugoslavia and causing at least 82 deaths and US$1.3 billion in damage. 1978 – On the orders of the President of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, paramilitary forces opened fire on peaceful protesting workers in Multan, Pakistan; it is known as 1978 massacre at Multan Colony Textile Mills. 1981 – One of the largest investigations by a British police force ends when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper", is arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. 1988 – Condor Flugdienst Flight 3782 crashes near Seferihisar, Turkey, killing 16 people. 1991 – Sharon Pratt Dixon becomes the first African American woman mayor of a major city and first woman Mayor of the District of Columbia. 1993 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navy kill 35–100 civilians on the Jaffna Lagoon. 2004 – Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth. 2019 – Adventist Health System and its subsidiaries rebranded to AdventHealth. 2022 – Massive nationwide protests and unrest break out in Kazakhstan over the sudden increase of liquefied petroleum gas prices, leaving over 200 people dead and thousands injured.

[libertariantaoist]

News Roundup 5/1/19

Russiagate

Phil Giraldi explains how the deep state worked against Trump. [Link]

Larry Johnson details the FBI informants that appear in the Mueller Report. [Link]

Venezuela

The US sanctions Venezuela’s foreign minister. [Link]

Juan Guaido attempted to overthrow Maduro. Guaido was joined by opposition leader Lopez and a few dozen troops. Thousands of protesters joined Guaido. The coup fizzled without posing a serious threat to Maduro. Massive pro-Maduro protesters turned out to defend the presidential palace. During the protests, a Venezuelan military vehicle ran over some opposition protesters. Lopez has taken refuge in the Chilean embassy. [Link]

Trump tweets if Cuban troops remain in Venezuela, then the US will completely embargo Cuba. [Link]

Secretary of State Pompeo says Maduro was prepared to leave Venezuela for Cuba, but Russia talked Maduro into remaining in Venezuela. [Link]

US Envoy to Venezuela Elliot Abrams claims the US had negotiated with three high ranking officials in the Maduro government to restore order. [Link]

Southeast Asia

Countries surrounding the South China Sea are increasingly using their Coast Guards to try to enforce territorial waters claims. [Link]

272 Indonesian election workers died from overwork. [Link]

Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan police arrest three and seize some weapons in connect with the Easter Bombings. [Link]

Fifteen people died during a police raid on the home of the main suspects of the Easter Bombing. The two masterminds and their father were killed in the attack. Six children were killed in the crossfire. Over 100 people have been arrested in connection to the bombings. [Link]

Sri Lanka bans face coverings in response to the Easter Bombings. [Link]

Middle East

John Kerry says the US should have taken a stronger position against Assad in 2013. Kerry says he pushed for this policy as Secretary of State. [Link]

Israel returned two Syrian prisoners. Syria returned the remains of an Israeli soldier. [Link]

Video of ISIS leader Baghdadi surfaces for the first time since 2014. [Link]

The US uses the F-35 in combat for the first time ever. The plane targeted an ISIS tunnel network in Iraq. [Link]

Patrick Cockburn explains ISIS can be defeated if the US ends wars. [Link]

A UN report finds the Yemen War will kill 230,000 Yemenis by the end of 2019. Since 2015, 140,000 Yemen children have been killed. [Link]

Read More

[creepingsharia]

Sri Lanka: At least 290 killed, 450 injured as terrorists bomb Catholic churches, luxury hotels on Easter Sunday

Sri Lanka: More than 200 killed, 450 injured as terrorists bomb Catholic churches, luxury hotels on Easter Sunday

Source: Sri Lanka rocked by eight blasts on Easter Sunday, 207 killed | Indiablooms – First Portal on Digital News Management

Colombo, Apr 21 (IBNS): Eight blasts rocked Sri Lanka and left 207 people killed on a day when the Island Nation was celebrating Easter Sunday.

The attacks left over 400 people injured, leaving the world condemning the incident which disrupted peace in the nation that has witnessed civil wars in the past.

The death toll from the blasts has risen to 207, according to a police spokesman, reported CNN.

Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution Harsha de Silva said seven people have been arrested so far in connection with the incidents.

Blasts were reported from three churches and several other hotels in the city.

The churches were identified as St Anthony’s Shrine in Kochchikade, St. Sebastian’s church in the nearby city of Negombo and Zion Church in the eastern city of Batticaloa.

The first blast occurred at 8.45 am in St Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade and the other at St Sebestian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, Katana.

Shortly after those blasts were reported, police confirmed three hotels in the capital had also been hit, along with a church in the town of Batticalao, in the east of the country.

The police said explosions also occurred at Shangri-La Hotel and Kingsbury Hotel in the capital.

As per initial reports the injured have been shifted to nearby hospitals. The dead included foreigners, a minister said.

Meanwhile, two names of suspected suicide bomber, who might be associated with the blasts, have emerged.

The attack at Shangri La hotel was carried out by suicide bomber Zahran Hashim, while Abu Mohammad has been identified as the attacker at the Batticalao church, reported CNN News 18 website.

Source: Sri Lanka has seen a spike in Jihadi activity since 2017 – Oneindia News

On April 11, the police got an input that terrorists would target 11 Churches in the country. It warned that Catholics would be the target of the attack. Moreover the serial bombings that rocked Colombo bear the signature of the Islamic State. The nation has been under the radar of the Islamic State for nearly three years now.

Reports suggest that the suicide bombers have been identified as Zahran Hashim and Abu Mohammad.

An Intelligence Bureau official in India tells OneIndia that the target was clearly the Catholics. The Christians who form 6 per cent of the country’s population were out in large numbers due to Easter. Moreover the attack comes 10 days after a warning was issued about Churches being attacked in the country.

A message received by the police on April 11 stated that 11 Churches would be attacked. It was further warned that all the Catholics should go home and this should be informed to all the families.

With the blasts today, the intelligence in Sri Lanka has warned that there could be more attacks.

via Colombo bombings: ISIS suggests revenge for strikes on Muslims

Three churches – St Anthony’s Church in Colombo, St Sebastian’s Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and another church in the eastern town of Batticaloa – were targeted, police said.

via What is known about the perpetrators?

News agency AFP says it has seen documents that show that Sri Lankan police have been on the alert for several days, fearing that suicide bombers from a local radical Muslim group, the National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) were targeting prominent churches.

AFP also reported that Sri Lankan police seized a haul of explosives and detonators in January after arresting four men “from a newly formed radical Muslim group.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rwXTOrnF8I&feature=youtu.be

Social Media Bias is Real. Please Click & Share.

[antilogvacations]

Have lost faith in Humanity | Sri Lanka Terror Attack

This Sunday, on Easter Day bomb blasts at three Sri Lankan churches and three luxury hotels which happened around 8:40(local time), killed more than 180 people and injured more than 500. According to Sri Lanka’s Government, it was the major attack after 10 years. It was the chain boom blasting on the auspicious occasion of Easter day. Pictures of one of the three churches are circulating on local news channels and social media, showing the huge damage to the church. A major part of the church roof was blown in the explosion. It happened when the Sunday prayer is going on, within a few seconds roof tiles and splintered wood spreading all over the floor with blood everywhere and the bodies of worshippers. Hundreds of wounded worshipers and others were admitted to the local hospital.

Here’s the full list of blast sites reported so far:

St Anthony’s Shrine, Kochchikade

St Sebastian’s Church, Negombo

Zion Church, Batticaloa

Cinnamon Grand, Colombo

Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo

The Kingsbury Hotel, Colombo

Near Dehiwala Zoo in Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia

A house in Mahawila Gardens, Dematagoda

The motive behind these serial bomb blasts is still not clear and there were no claims from any terrorist group. The evangelical church in Batticaloa in Eastern Province witness 20 death and around 50 people were killed in St. Sebastian’s gothic-style Catholic Church in Katuwapitiya, north of Colombo.

Sri Lanka Prime Minister condemned the serial blasts attack in a tweet and said “I strongly condemn the cowardly attacks on our people today. I call upon all Sri Lankans during this tragic time to remain united and strong. Please avoid propagating unverified reports and speculation. The government is taking immediate steps to contain this situation”.

The world is witnessing this wave of extremism. This is not just an attack on a church, this is about humanity. It is a great loss hundreds of people lost their loved ones. We pay our homage to those innocent people who gathered to pray for the goodwill.

[harisshahofficial-blog]

Series of bomb blasts in Sri Lanka: Who will be getting their benefits?

As I woke up today and started to watch the news notifications on my phone I was very much shocked when I came to get knowledge about the continuous bombings in different hotels and churches in Colombo and Batticaloa districts of the South Asian country of Sri Lanka. The reason why I got into shock because Sri Lanka is a country which strive for a long period against the instability in form of Tamil insurgency and was about to settle the whole thing which paved a clear path for the completion of conflict resolving process. As a Pakistani and being the citizen of the conflict-affected zone, I can feel sad and dark moments for the people of Sri Lanka that how our civilians and military personals were remained target of extremist terrorism. The news of every bomb blast was coming up on my phone that different sites on distinct timings were being targeted by an unknown group on the basis of organized terror acts, the target was basically the Christian minority which were busy in the celebrations in their religious festival of Easter alongside with many foreigners. The Sri Lankan government responded and even shut downed the social media and other services for the security precautions, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka H. E. Ranil Wickcremesinghe said that on his official twitter that “the government is taking immediate steps to contain the situation.” and condemned the brutal terrorists activities in his country, the military is still on high alert. The news of world leaders and foreign offices about from United States, Russia, Great Britain, Pakistan, Iran, India, China, Portugal, Qatar and many other countries were also on the headlines. Many analysts point out that Christians were remained a target in the Buddhist majority country and were usually disrupted by monks in offering their services on different holy occasions, some of them says that ISIS affiliates in Sri Lanka can also be involved in these incidents while the question of involvement of remnants Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is also being raised which was militarily defeated by Sri Lankan government after a long period of insurgent and guerrilla conflict. As I was watching my twitter feed, some of self-proclaimed Indian think-tanks and analysts are pointing that ‘Pindi’ is behind all this butchering events in Sri Lanka, the blame was on the military establishment and the country’s leading intelligence agency known as the “Inter-Services Intelligence” (or ISI).

Now the whole point is cleared here, Pakistan was a key partner in providing Sri Lanka every type of security, equipment and diplomatic support to the people and government of Sri Lanka to bring stability in the insurgent affected zones in their country. Pakistan helped Sri Lanka by providing Sri Lankan military grenades, mortars and missiles worth of millions of dollars, military advisers were also their for strengthening the Lankan government’s position in the whole civil war era and the Pakistan Air Force was also stationed there to conduct several successful airstrikes against the LTTE separatist hideouts. The LTTE fighters were getting their training and equipment in the Tamil Nadu state of India which geographically shares sea border with Sri Lanka and is the easiest sea route that connects Indian Republic with island state, Sri Lanka. Even though we can get the information about the Eelam National Liberation Front (ENLF) which is the affiliate militant wing of LTTE having meetings with Indian security officials in Lebanon. We also hear about Indian involvement of providing them weapons flowing through the illegal gun markets in Myanmar and Thailand. No doubt Pakistan helped Sri Lanka in the whole scenario because India was trying to become the hegemonic player in South Asia which she still trying to do so. Secondly by observing the whole scenario, the economy race can also be found between the India and her neighbor, the “People’s Republic of China”. The data we can also find on internet that China and India has its own stakes in Sri Lanka and different political players are challenging each other supported by both states to dominate in the country’s parliamentary politics. Even though the Chinese are in dominating position there and Sri Lanka had also became an important partner in the China’s “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)”. Maybe such incidents would upset the Chinese economic activities there in Sri Lanka. Thirdly, the tourism sector of Sri Lanka has a major share in her GDP which was 362.7 million US$ in October 2018, no doubt the tourism of Sri Lanka had also attracted many people towards herself instead of going towards India due to the Hindu extremist elements harassing many foreign tourists and the increase in sexual assaults against the foreign tourist women by the locals in the different parts of India. By closing all this thing, we can come to a point that such incidents often happens which were conducted by other state agencies and then the era of blame game comes in, these are the things what we call fifth generation warfare tactics to defame any country through think-tanks and social media platforms. Such events may create an environment of trauma among people but also such actions are done just to achieve their own geopolitical goals, as the study of International Relations teaches us that states are selfish and there are no permanent friends or foes in the arena of international politics. The terms of Globalization also implements here that how much a state tries to bring sustained peace and implement better security precautions but at some point such things are breached and incidents like current bomb blasts in Sri Lanka used to happen at any situation.