On Sunday, April 21, a series of Christian churches and luxury hotels were bombed in the South Asian island of Sri Lanka. The bombings took the lives of over 350 people, injuring more than 500 bystanders, including 39 foreigners.
According to CNN a small radical Islamist group called, National Thowheeth Jama’ath is responsible for the coordinated Easter Sunday bombings; however, conflicting reports have stated that ISIS has recently claimed responsibility for the attacks. It’s been reported that Sri Lankan officials were warned about the attack by National Thowheeth Jama’ath 10 days prior to the massacre, but unfortunately the warning was ignored.
The group has previously vandalized Buddhist statues in Sri Lanka, but has little history in carrying out acts of terrorism. Recent reports have stated that the bombings were in retaliation for the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand that took the lives of 50 Muslim people last month.
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Ranil Wrickremesinghe has stated in a press conference following the bombings that there are still people on the run with explosives, but no one is sure on how many. Since the attacks there have been 40 people arrested who are connected with the crimes.
As a result of the spread of false information about the attacks, Sri Lanka has placed a ban on social media. It is said that all social media platforms except Twitter has been shut down. In order to stay safe, many countries have issued travel advisories on Sri Lanka saying that to be careful, and those who plan on traveling there to reconsider doing so.