The breaking news has six explosions, and at least 50 deaths (a total that looks certain to rise). It's very unlikely that this is the work of a small cell, for there to be so many targets on the same day this must have been a well-planned and organised large group of like-minded murderers. Hope no-one on here had friends or relatives caught up in it, Sri Lanka had become a very popular tourist destination again in recent years.
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Sri Lankan churches and hotels bombed on Easter Sunday
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Here's a bit of background from a Sri Lankan scholar - https://twitter.com/AmarAmarasingam/...36614149558272
One of my best friends is Anglo-SL Tamil, I am dreading her hearing this. I don't think her relatives are Christians, at least.
Twitter is such a double-edged tool here. I use it in many circumstances to try and find information and perspective from all different places, and it is good for this, but to do this one has to wade through so much shit that's malicious or pointlessly banal.
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Agreed, but I'd need more dot-joining on how persecution of Muslims by a Buddhist majority connects to a massacre of Christians.Last edited by Satchmo Distel; 21-04-2019, 18:26.
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An interesting piece that helps explain why all "official" accounts should be viewed with some skepticism
Much of the focus is also now on the failure of the Sri Lankan security agencies. A key factor here is the degree to which different branches and factions within the police, intelligence and military are aligned with various politicians and political parties.
The telecommunications minister, Harin Fernando, gave an unwitting example of how politicised the vision of decision-makers can be. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday, Fernando, who on Sunday night tweeted images of the memo from the Sri Lankan intelligence services dated 11 April, which laid out details of a possible planned attack, said the government also had not ruled out an attempted coup.
“There are so many ways we could look at this, but right now our biggest priority would be to find what really led these eight or 10 or 12 men to carry out this attack,” he said. “But we are not ruling out a coup as well"
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"Defence minister says bombings were in response to mass shooting of Muslims in Christchurch"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ay-of-mourning
But, to echo Ursus above, we need to skeptical of such statements, especially given how much planning this required.
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The main targets were Christian worshippers and foreign tourists. Muslim casualties are collateral damage. The jihadists have long ago compartmentalised away any guilt. If a Muslim dies in one of their attacks then it's in the will of Allah. And probably - by being in those places anyway - those Muslims are considered the "wrong type of Muslim" anyway and so de facto are targets.
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