Terrorist attack in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday 2019

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St. Anthony in Kochchikade, Colombo; this is where the first attack took place
Shangri-La, Colombo (2016)
Cinnamon Grand Foyer (2011)
The Kingsbury (2016)

A series of bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday 2019 (April 21, 2019) killed at least 253 people and injured 485 others. Three churches and three hotels were promptly attacked by suicide bombers. In the afternoon, an explosive device detonated in a small hotel near Colombo Zoo. Another explosion occurred in a private house in connection with an access by the security forces. Most of the attack sites were in or near the de facto capital Colombo . The authorities blame a local radical Islamist group and local jihadists with contacts and links to international terrorism for the terrorist attack. The Islamic State claimed the attack for itself.

course

Suicide attacks

The series of attacks was apparently planned in such a way that the highest possible number of victims should arise. The churches were attacked during Easter services and the hotel restaurants during breakfast. The first six explosions were carried out by suicide bombers. They occurred between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. local time (5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. CEST ) in three churches:

  • In the historic Roman Catholic Church of St. Anthony's Shrine in the Kochchikade district of Colombo, a thousand believers were gathered for Easter mass when the detonation occurred. Of the three celebrating priests, two were seriously injured. There were many fatalities, including at least nine foreigners.
  • The Roman Catholic St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo was badly damaged. Most of the roof of the church was torn off by the shock wave. At least 67 people are said to have been killed here. Many families had come to church for worship because there was a children's mass.
  • At least 27 believers were killed in Zion Church , an evangelical free church in Batticaloa on the east coast of the island.

Bombs also detonated in luxury hotels in Colombo . Two suicide bombers carried out an attack on the Shangri-La, one in the Cinnamon Grand and one in Kingsbury.

  • Shangri-La : The hotel was attacked by two suicide bombers who detonated their bombs ten seconds apart. The explosions shook the Table One Cafe. Among the victims were five functionaries of the Indian party Janata Dal Secular . It was here that the prominent Sri Lankan TV cook Shantha Mayadunne died along with her daughter. The three Danish victims perished here. The hotel announced that three people from the Shangri-La were among the dead.
  • Cinnamon Grand: The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who had queued at the breakfast buffet. Four waiters who were preparing the buffet died in the hotel's Taprobane restaurant.
  • The Kingsbury

More detonations

  • At least two people were killed in a hotel in Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia . As surveillance videos published later show, the original target was the Hotel Taj Samudra , where the assassin attempted to detonate it in the breakfast room in the morning. This failed. The assassin then checked into a simple hotel, the Tropical Inn , and there later there was an explosion in which the assassin also died.
  • Security forces cordoned off a house in Mahawila Gardens, Dematagoda, three hours after the attacks and arrested seven people there, three of whom needed medical attention. The detonation also occurred during this access. Three police officers were killed by a collapsing wall. A suspected suicide bomber also died in this eighth explosion.

Sri Lankan Special Forces (SRF) stormed a house in Orugodawatta, Colombo. Late on Sunday evening, the Air Force announced that a pipe bomb had been discovered and defused at Bandaranaike International Airport .

On Monday the police seized 87 detonators for bombs at the Bastian Mawatha Private Bus Station in Pettah. This is a private bus terminal at Colombo's central bus station.

On Monday there was another explosion on a street near St. Antonius Church, which had been destroyed in the series of attacks: After an explosive device was discovered in a parked delivery truck, bomb defusers detonated the vehicle. Panic broke out among passers-by. One person was arrested and needed to be protected from the crowd.

Victim

According to initial estimates, at least 310 people were killed, the number of injuries is given as around 500. The number of deaths was later corrected to 253. Most of the victims are Sri Lankan citizens. Eight British people were among the dead, two of whom were also US citizens. Other victims came from Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, China, Portugal and Turkey, as confirmed by the respective foreign ministries. The Danish victims are three children of the entrepreneur and multi-billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen . One of the fatalities had both US citizenship and German citizenship, as the Foreign Office announced .

More than 400 injured people were still being treated in hospitals on April 24, some of them were in critical condition.

Attack locations

There is no official information on the number of dead and injured at the various attack sites.

Fatalities by location of the attack
Place of attack Fatalities Injured
St. Anthony's Shrine Church, Kochchikade, Colombo (Roman Catholic) at least 160
St. Sebastian Church, Negombo (Roman Catholic) at least 100
Zion Evangelical Church, Batticaloa (Evangelical Free Church) at least 27 at least 300
Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo / St. Antoniu at least 10
Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo at least 4
The Kingsbury Hotel, Colombo
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Hotel, Colombo 2
Mahawila Gardens, Dematagoda 3

Nationalities

Fatalities by nationality
nationality Fatalities
Sri LankaSri Lanka Sri Lanka 00?
United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 008th
IndiaIndia India 008th
DenmarkDenmark Denmark 003
China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 002
TurkeyTurkey Turkey 002
AustraliaAustralia Australia 002
United StatesUnited States United States 00?
PortugalPortugal Portugal 001
NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands 001
JapanJapan Japan 001
PolandPoland Poland 00?
MoroccoMorocco Morocco 00?
SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland 002
Unknown 018+
All in all 253

Investigations

Reactions from the authorities

With immediate effect, emergency regulations came into force, which gave the security authorities more powers. The authorities imposed a curfew (initially from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time, 2.30 p.m. to 2.30 a.m. CEST ). The Tuesday after the attacks was declared a national day of mourning. Social media, including Facebook and Instagram, have also been blocked to prevent the spread of false information. The state of emergency, initially limited to two months, was surprisingly extended by one month on June 21, 2019, contrary to initial announcements. President Sirisena justified this with the continuing “public emergency”.

According to police, 24 people were arrested. All are citizens of Sri Lanka. A delivery truck was secured and the driver arrested. It is believed that this vehicle was used to transport the suspects to Colombo. The arrested are religious extremists; further details were not given for the time being. Initially, no one confessed to the series of attacks.

Information desk of the authorities

The day after the attack, it was confirmed that although the authorities had received a terror warning on April 9, the Sri Lankan government had not been informed. An intelligence dossier warning of an imminent attack circulated ten days before the attack. Police chief Jayasundara warned against plans by the little-known radical Islamic group National Thowheeth Jama'ath to carry out suicide attacks on churches and on the Indian High Commission in Colombo. He relied on foreign (probably Indian or US-American) intelligence information. The document, entitled Information of an alleged plan attack, was dated April 11, 2019 and signed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Priyalal Dissanayake. It contained the names of numerous suspects. After the terrorist attack on mosques in Christchurch (March 2019), they incited against other religions. However, it is doubted that NTJ had the ability to carry out a coordinated series of attacks. Among the states of Southeast Asia there are known transnationally active jihadists for Pakistan, Malaysia and the Philippines. It is also unclear whether the details given in the warning fit the sequence of the series of attacks on Easter Sunday. President Sirisena said he had not been informed of the warnings of planned attacks. There was speculation in the media that some of the mishaps were due to the tense situation within the Sri Lankan government. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had since been dismissed by Sirisena in 2018, but remained in office.

Perpetrator

According to the government, the suicide bombers belonged to the upper middle class. They were part of the local radical Islamic organization National Thowheeth Jama'ath, which is supposed to maintain close contacts with the Islamic State .

National Thowheeth Jama'ath

According to the New York Times , the investigation focused on the little-known Islamist group National Thowheeth Jama'ath . Anne Speckhard, who holds a professorship in psychiatry at Georgetown University and directs the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism , said that the aim of National Thowheeth Jama'ath is to bring global jihadism to Sri Lanka.

There are two Islamist groups in Sri Lanka with the same core name, which can be translated as "Movement for the Unity of God", a self-designation popular in the Islamist milieu:

  • National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ); this group is held responsible by the investigative authorities for the series of attacks. She is said to be a splinter group from SLTJ. The leader of this group is Mohamed Zahran, who was named in the intelligence service warning.
  • Sri Lanka Thowheeth Jama'ath (SLTJ), a small group active in the east of the island, which has so far attracted attention through extremist rhetoric and vandalism against Buddhist statues in Mawanella. Four members of the group were arrested for this in January 2019. The secretary, Abdul Razik, had already been arrested in 2016 for inciting hatred against Buddhists. He later apologized for what he said. One of those arrested for the Mawanella incident is said to be identical to one of the suicide bombers.

The next day, the National Security Council held an emergency meeting with the army command. A government spokesman blamed National Thowheeth Jama'ath for the attacks. It is believed that the group received international aid. President Maithripala Sirisena announced that he would seek international support to clarify the background. Interpol has already announced that it will send an incident response team to Sri Lanka.

Islamic State

The Islamic State claims to have been involved in the attack. The terrorist organization published the names of the seven suicide bombers along with a video in which they swore allegiance to IS. A few days after the attack , the leader of the organization, the self-proclaimed Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi , presented himself to the public for the first time since July 2014 in a video address in which he praised the attacks and as an example of the new IS strategy after its breakdown Represents the structures of power in Iraq and Syria. The fight will now mainly be directed against Christians and will take the form of an international "war of attrition" in which the IS wants to use local actors like in Sri Lanka. In the part of the address that deals with Sri Lanka, however, Al-Baghdadi cannot be seen, only his voice can be heard, which makes it possible to add this passage later.

backgrounds

Tensions between the various religious communities had recently increased in Sri Lanka. The state of emergency was declared in March 2018. The trigger was the attack by Muslim youths on a Sinhalese truck driver after a traffic accident. The driver was therefore killed. Members of the Buddhist Sinhalese majority then attacked a mosque and property belonging to Muslims. Ultranationalist Buddhism was strengthened, led by the Bodu Bala Sena organization , which claims to be defending the religion. According to Zeit online, "radical Buddhist monks ... stir up hatred and violence, above all against the Muslim, but also against the Christian minority." In 2018 there were 86 confirmed incidents of attacks against Christians, in 2019 26 such incidents have been registered so far . On Palm Sunday 2019 (which is also the New Year of the Sinhala calendar), a Methodist church in Kumbichchikulama in the Anuradhapura district was the target of an attack. A Sinhalese mob attacked the building with stones and fireworks, so that the few Christians were trapped in the church. Methodist Bishop Asiri Perera was surrounded and threatened on arrival; he pointed out that there were no Buddhist monks among the attackers.

According to terrorism expert Peter Neumann, the attacks cannot be viewed as an act of revenge for the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch , as the planning of the attack had already started. The attacks are therefore to be understood more in the context of Islamist jihadism .

Reactions

Commemoration in Freiburg im Breisgau

Massive criticism of social networks

The Islamists were previously able to spread their hate sermons on social networks unhindered. Although the Islamic hate preacher Zahran Hashim was known by the secret service, his hate sermons were not deleted from YouTube. According to YouTube, his hate sermons would not violate the guidelines. The social media received a lot of criticism for this, as terrorists publicly advertise intolerance and thus recruit new members.

Explosions, shootings and exit of tourists

Days after the terrorist attack on Christians, the police and the military were able to secure bomb material and explosive vests. There were shootings and explosions. Dozens of people were killed. As a precaution, the tour operator TUI took tourists who stayed there after booking with TUI out of the country.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Attacks on Sri Lanka churches and hotels. In: BBC News. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  2. ↑ tagesschau.de: Sri Lanka: Terrorist militia IS claims attacks for itself. Retrieved July 6, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Sri Lanka attacks: death toll from bombings rises sharply to 290. In: The Guardian. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Sri Lanka authorities were warned two weeks before attacks, says minister. In: The Guardian. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Sri Lanka: Attacks were suicide bombings. In: ZDF. April 22, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Sri Lanka blasts: More than 200 dead in church and hotel bombings across country. In: CNN. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  7. ↑ a b c d Sri Lanka explosions: More than 200 killed as churches and hotels targeted. In: BBC News. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  8. ↑ a b c d e f Sri Lanka imposes curfew after at least 207 killed in attacks. In: The Guardian. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Sri Lanka authorities were warned two weeks before attacks, says minister. In: The Guardian. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  10. ^ Easter Sunday blasts across Sri Lanka - live updates. In: CNN. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  11. ↑ a b Another explosion in Sri Lanka - President declares a state of emergency. In: world. April 22, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019 .
  12. ↑ abc.net.au
  13. ↑ a b c d Bombs tear through Sri Lankan churches and hotels, killing 290 people. In: CNN. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  14. ^ Indian victims 'had just sat down for breakfast'. In: BBC News. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  15. ↑ a b c d e f g Sri Lanka attacks: Who are the victims? In: BBC News. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Sri Lanka: Danish billionaire family loses three children in attack. In: mirror online. April 22, 2019, accessed May 6, 2019 .
  17. ↑ a b More than 180 dead in attacks in churches and hotels in Sri Lanka. In: derstandard.at . April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Chilling CCTV footage shows moment Sri Lankan suicide bomber attempted to blow up luxury hotel. In: News.com.AU. May 3, 2019, accessed on May 16, 2019 .
  19. ^ The Western-educated bomber who botched Sri Lanka hotel attack. In: reuters.com. April 26, 2019, accessed on May 16, 2019 .
  20. ↑ More than 200 dead in a series of attacks in Sri Lanka. In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  21. ^ Easter Sunday blasts across Sri Lanka. In: CNN. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  22. ↑ a b c d Sri Lanka attacks: Death toll soars to 290. In: BBC News. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  23. ↑ a b Sri Lanka attack death toll rises to 290. In: CNN. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  24. ↑ Police recover 87 'low-explosive detonators'. In: BBC News. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  25. ↑ a b c Local Islamist group responsible for attacks in Sri Lanka according to the government - explosion during bomb clearance - derstandard.at/2000101844427/Einheimische-Islamistengruppe-laut-Regierung-fuer-Anschlaege-in-Sri-Lanka- responsible. In: The Standard. April 22, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019 .
  26. ↑ a b c Sri Lanka attacks: 'International network' linked to bombings. In: BBC News. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Sri Lanka attack death toll rises to 290. In: CNN. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  28. ↑ a b Government of Sri Lanka blames Islamists for attacks. In: ZEIT Online. April 22, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019 .
  29. ↑ a b Sri Lanka attacks: national day of mourning begins as death toll rises to 310 - live news. In: The Guardian. April 23, 2019, accessed April 23, 2019 .
  30. ↑ n-tv.de
  31. ^ Three Danes, 'several' US citizens among dead. In: BBC News. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  32. ^ Five British citizens killed in Sri Lankan bombings. In: The Guardian. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  33. ^ Three children of Asos billionaire killed in Sri Lanka attacks. In: The Guardian. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  34. ↑ Sri Lanka: One of the victims also had a German passport. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. April 22, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019 .
  35. ↑ 359 dead Sri Lanka attacks: the number of victims continues to rise berliner-kurier.de, April 24, 2019, accessed April 24, 2019.
  36. ↑ Sri Lanka attacks: 'International network' linked to bombings. In: BBC News. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  37. ↑ More than 180 dead after attacks on churches and hotels. In: Zeit Online. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  38. ↑ a b c Sri Lanka explosions: More than 200 killed as churches and hotels targeted. In: BBC News. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  39. ↑ Sri Lanka attacks: Who are the victims? In: BBC News. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  40. ↑ EDA confirms: Two Swiss people killed. In: SRF. Accessed May 1, 2019 .
  41. ↑ Bombs tear through Sri Lankan churches and hotels, killing 290 people. In: CNN. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  42. ^ State of emergency in Sri Lanka extended , Zeit Online, June 22, 2019.
  43. ↑ a b Sri Lanka attacks: death toll from bombings rises sharply to 290. In: The Guardian. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  44. ↑ a b c Sri Lanka authorities were warned two weeks before attacks, says minister. In: The Guardian. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  45. ↑ 24 arrests after a series of attacks in Sri Lanka with at least 290 dead. In: NZZ. April 22, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019 .
  46. ↑ a b c Sri Lanka bombings: doubts over Islamist group's potential role. In: The Guardian. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  47. ^ Sri Lanka suspects international terror link to Easter Sunday atrocities. In: CNN. April 22, 2019, accessed on April 22, 2019 (English): "There were doubts that the NTJ would have had the capacity to carry out such a sophisticated and coordinated attack alone. Transnational Islamists are known to operate in places like Pakistan, Malaysia and the Philippines. It is unclear whether the details contained in the warning matched the atrocity that eventually took place on Sunday. "
  48. ↑ Bernd Musch-Borowska: Could the attacks have been prevented? , Deutschlandfunk, April 23, 2019.
  49. ^ WORLD: Suicide attacks: Assassins in Sri Lanka belonged to the upper middle class . April 24, 2019 ( online [accessed April 24, 2019]).
  50. ↑ a b c What Is National Thowheeth Jama'ath? Suspicion Falls on Sri Lanka Islamic Group. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  51. ↑ a b c Sri Lanka attacks: Who are National Thowheed Jamath? In: BBC News. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  52. ↑ Bombs tear through Sri Lankan churches and hotels, killing 290 people. In: CNN. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  53. ↑ Sri Lanka attacks: death toll from bombings rises sharply to 290. In: The Guardian. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  54. ↑ 'Local group' behind Easter Sunday attacks. In: BBC News. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  55. ↑ Interpol experts deployed. In: BBC News. April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  56. ^ Jason Burke: Pressure builds on Sri Lankan officials as Isis claims Easter attacks. In: The Guardian . April 23, 2019, accessed April 30, 2019 .
  57. ↑ Steffen Schwarzkopf : IS chief threatens the West with a "war of attrition". In: The world . April 30, 2019, accessed April 30, 2019 .
  58. ↑ Sri Lanka declares a state of emergency after Buddhist-Muslim unrest. In: Aargauer Zeitung. March 6, 2018, accessed April 26, 2019 .
  59. ↑ Bloody Easter in Sri Lanka: series of attacks claims over 200 lives. In: NZZ. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  60. ↑ Explosions hit churches, hotels in Sri Lanka at Easter Sunday Mass. In: Newshub. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  61. ↑ a b Palm Sunday's church attack ruins nation's aluth avurudu calm. In: The Sunday Times. April 21, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  62. ^ Religious Minorities Across Asia Suffer Amid Surge in Sectarian Politics. In: The New York Times. April 21, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
  63. ^ FAZ, Frank Lübberding, Religion, Politics - and the core business of the churches , April 26, 2019.
  64. ↑ Sri Lanka attacks: Hate preacher Zahran Hashim's videos 'did not violate' YouTube policies. Retrieved April 26, 2019 .
  65. ^ ZEIT ONLINE: Sri Lanka: More than a dozen dead after explosions in a surrounded house . In: The time . April 27, 2019, ISSN  0044-2070 ( online [accessed April 27, 2019]).
  66. ^ ZEIT ONLINE: Sri Lanka: Explosions and shots after the raid on extremists . In: The time . April 26, 2019, ISSN  0044-2070 ( online [accessed April 26, 2019]).