Bobby Ghosh, Columnist

Sri Lanka Terror Attacks Break From Past Patterns

Could a small, little-known local group really have launched such a deadly complex operation?

April 23, 2019 at 2:00 AM UTC

Bobby Ghosh is a senior editor in the digital weekend team. Previously, he was a columnist at Bloomberg Opinion, where he wrote mostly about international affairs and culture.

Who really did it?
Photographer: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

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The wave of suicide attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday feels awfully familiar, as is the government’s assessment of who is to blame: local jihadists, in cahoots with international terrorist networks. Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne told a press conference in Colombo that the National Thowheed Jamath—a small, hitherto little-known group—was behind the bombings, which have killed some 300 and wounded 500.

But, he added, “We don’t see how a small organization can do all of this. We are now investigating international support for the group and their other links.”