Forewarned, Unprepared, Stricken

"The reality is that inevitably this group has links outside. My assessment is that the motivation, the masterminds, are outside the country."
"I think their aim is global, it's not in Sri Lanka. Wherever they can get a soft spot they hit because they need recruits all the time and the only way that they can get recruits is by doing these kinds of spectacular activities."
"This is essentially a recruiting tool for them."
Madhav Nalapat, professor of geopolitics, Manipal University, India

"These attacks appear to be quite different and look as if they came right out of the [ISIL], al-Qaeda, global militant jihadi playbook, as these are attacks fomenting religious hatred by attacking multiple churches on a  high religious holiday."
"It is not about a separatist movement. It is about religion and punishing."
Anne Speckhard, director, International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism

"Given the gradual but steady growth of radicalization in Sri Lanka and more importantly the emergence of the Islamic State in Sri Lanka, this could pose a serious threat to the security of Sri Lanka."
"Continued marginalization of the Muslim community in Sri Lanka has produced a conducive environment for extremist elements to breed. These extremist elements could exploit the fault lines within the Muslim community and use the situation akin to how the Rohingya crISIL in Myanmar was used to foment and create extremist groups elsewhere in the region."
"This situation could ideally present the jihadist groups such as the Islamic State with a window of opportunity to plant their footprint in the Sri Lankan soil."
Geopolitical Monitor

Dead bodies of victims lie inside St. Sebastian's Church damaged in blast in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Sunday. (Chamila Karunarathne/Associated Press)

There it is in bold letters, former ISIL fighters returning to their  home countries intent on setting up regional terror hubs, a preoccupied concern of Europe and North America come to roost, its first showing since the destruction, but not complete demoralization of Islamic State, to turn to alternate means of evidencing its malign existence and its higher purpose, to slowly and steadily infiltrate and wreak destabilizing chaos through terror and slaughter, leaving the impression on vulnerable populations that they will never know where and when the next strike will appear....

The National Thowheeth Jamaath, a local Sri Lankan Muslim extremist group was a powder keg only needing the spark to set it in motion to create a devastating blow against government disinterest and inaction, its attention diverted by other pressing problems of political upheaval, separatist determination and violent terrorism by Tamil Tigers. The irony here is that the Tamil Tigers were credited with being the first such group to invent suicide bombing. An effective tactic of terror and mass slaughter enthusiastically embraced by jihadists.

The Tamil Tigers are a spent force in the wake of the destructive civil war and its ignominious defeat at the cost of untold numbers of Sri Lankan lives. Yet the Sri Lankan government and intelligence focus remained fixed on the Tigers, overlooking the more viral promise of Islamist jihadists revelling in their reawakening to the joys of Islamic martyrdom in service to the Koran's injunctions to the faithful. Friday mosque prayers are not complete without the customary jog to Muslim sensibilities of the sacred principle of jihad.



Out of Indian intelligence came a warning to Sri Lanka of imminent attacks, eliciting slightly more than a shrug, but not much more. And then came a whirlwind of action out of Muslim-majority Kattankudy in eastern Sri Lanka, reflecting detailed planning leading to a surprise multi-pronged assault where Christians and Westerners were both the message and the targets. In the aftermath, the realization that Thowheeth Jamaath aligned itself with global terrorism; ISIL or al-Qaeda on the Indian subcontinent (AQIS).

It was predicted. Analysts spoke of the "localization" of terrorism, reminiscent of Islamic State grooming its recruits to remain where they are, and to attack there,  using whatever means available. Small, local groups and individuals inspired by the magnificent exploits of those affiliated with global jihadi networks. And thus was outlined the future of Asia. Of Europe. Of North America. In this instance, with the Christian Sri Lankan churches and Western-style hotels targeted and the deaths of over three hundred innocents, the wounding of over five hundred, the message was sent, and received.

"The Bloody days in your church has begun", was the message alongside videos of the Sri Lankan bombings from an Indonesian Instagram account supporting Islamic State, reported SITE.

A Sri Lankan police commando enters a house suspected to be a hideout of militants following a shoot out in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Sunday. Thirteen people were arrested and three officers were killed during raids in search of suspects following the attacks. (Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press)