Opinion | Sri Lanka bombings bear hallmarks of Islamic State attack

The government has attributed the suicide bombings to a little-known Islamist group but the coordinated strike on Easter Sunday shows how IS is entering a new phase of global expansion

Colombo now needs to exchange and share intelligence to dismantle the terrorists’ support and operational structures, says Rohan Gunaratna

Reading Time:4 minutes

Sri Lankan soldiers inspect the damage following explosions at St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 2:13pm, 23 Apr 2019Updated: 2:30pm, 23 Apr 2019

The Sri Lankan government has blamed a little-known Islamist group for the suicide bombings that left more than 300 people dead in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.

But the coordinated attacks bear the hallmarks of those done by hardline militant groups with international networks, like the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda.

IS has not claimed responsibility but several among the more than 30 people arrested in connection with the attack have revealed their affiliation to Dawlah Ismaiyah, the Arabic name for IS.

The targets included three luxury hotels – Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury in the heart of the capital – and three churches in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa. The attacks were meticulously planned.

They bear similarities to earlier IS-linked attacks in Asia – church bombings in Indonesia’s Surabaya last year that left 28 people dead were carried out by a family with IS connections and the militant group claimed responsibility for blasts at a cathedral in Jolo in the southern Philippines earlier this year that killed 22 people.

In Sri Lanka, the locations were iconic and symbolic, because the targets were Christians and foreigners. Besides the fatalities, as many as 500 are injured. The death toll is expected to rise.

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