Sri Lanka bombings: why warning signs of radicalisation went unheeded

One reason the warning signs may have been ignored was the government’s overwhelming focus on suppressing any revival of Tamil separatism

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Kumari Fernando, who lost her husband and two children, during a mass burial for victims. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:41pm, 25 Apr 2019Updated: 1:24pm, 30 Apr 2019

Attacks against mosques, shrines and followers of Sufi sheikhs in Sri Lanka more than a decade ago pointed to early warning signs of fundamentalism taking root among a sliver of the country’s Muslims.

The Easter attacks in Sri Lanka that killed more than 350 people in churches and hotels showed how the warnings went largely unheeded. It also exposed how a legacy of civil war, marginalisation, political disarray and security lapses cultivated fertile ground for the militants to carry out their attacks.

Islamic State (IS), which has lost all the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria, claims it was behind the bombings. Sri Lankan authorities remain unsure of its involvement, and have blamed breakaway members of two obscure local Muslim extremist groups.

Bruce Hoffman, a senior fellow for counterterrorism at the Council on Foreign Relations, said as far back as 22 years ago on his first visit to Sri Lanka there were Muslims who were concerned about people being radicalised.

He said Sunday’s attacks would have likely required an elaborate process of recruitment, radicalisation and then sequestration to prepare suicide bombers for their mission. The plan would have also needed safe houses for bomb makers, operatives who could conduct surveillance and reconnaissance of targets, and others to transport the bombers safely.

“You are talking about a resource and manpower-intensive activity … that has historically been beyond the capabilities of a small local would-be terrorist organisation,” Hoffman said.

One of the suicide bombers is suspected of being the former leader of a little-known group named National Towheed Jamaat.