Monday, April 22, 2019

The Terrorist Attack in Sri Lanka


Easter Sunday a series of hotels and churches were attacked  in Sri Lanka. So far, it has been claimed that  National Thowfeek Jamaath is responsible for the criminal acts. The government claims that there is a possibility that it is part of a much larger network. Very little evidence exists to suggest this. The death toll has been estimated to be about 200 people killed in the wave of violence. The unfortunate aftermath is that the government will begin to crackdown on civil liberties in the name of security.  Social media restrictions have already been put in place. A curfew has also been announced for the citizens of Sri Lanka. This follows a pattern that many nations that dealt with terrorism. Sri Lanka has dealt with war and violence before fighting a civil war between 1983 to 2009. This resulted in the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, but ethnic tensions still remain. Human rights violations during the decades long conflict have never been prosecuted. Prime Minister Ranji Wickremesinghe  was  previously in conflict with President Maithripala Sirisena. Political factionalism will on make the current situation worse discussing solutions to rising violence. There are indications that law enforcement knew of attacks, but took little action to prevent this event. The Asian nation will have to figure out how to deal with both terrorism and growing discontent from the public regarding intelligence failure. China and India has interest in the island nation, which may lead to Sri Lanka having bigger security ties to fight armed groups or terrorist organizations.   

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