Sri Lanka bombings Easter 2019 (catch all)

[Bill Moore]

August 2018, the signs were all there.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/...31-p5012l.html

Sri Lankan student charged with terror offences in Sydney

"At this stage it appears that this is an individual operating on his own. There is certainly some further investigation that is required but again it is a matter that is before the courts," said Acting Superintendent Sheehy.

He has returned to his native Sri Lanka and has travelled to a number of other overseas destinations, which police on Friday refused to detail.

From 2015

https://jamestown.org/program/islami...nkan-outreach/

Islamic State’s Sri Lankan Outreach

The government’s and ACJU’s stands against the Islamic State’s outreach activities notwithstanding, grassroots radicalization of some Muslim youths in Sri Lanka is potentially directly connected with many violent skirmishes between Sri Lankan Muslims and vigilante groups associated with the majority Buddhist population in recent years.

Not only are anti-Buddhist sentiments high among a section of Muslim populations in Sri Lanka, but alarmingly, the minority population is more vulnerable to increasing attempts by Salafist sectarian groups, such as Sri Lanka Thawheed Jamaat (SLTJ), which not only promotes sectarian discord within Islam, but also attempts to preach a rabid strain of Islam that largely despises the practices and existence of other Islamic sects like Shi’as and Ahmadiyas (New Indian Express, November 8). [7]

To add fuel to the fire, a skip and a hop over a few hundred miles west to the Maldives, a European tourist mecca, a number of locals have supported Al-Qadea and ISIS for years.

Saturday, April 27, 2019

https://www.satp.org/terrorism-updat...reign-ministry

Six Maldivians under Sri Lankan Police custody, says Foreign Ministry
Maldives' Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 26 confirmed that there are six Maldivian individuals currently in the custody of Sri Lankan police, reports The Edition. According to local media Mihaaru, the Maldivians were detained over two different cases. While Mihaaru reported that some were taken in over possession of unlicensed air gun, the others were arrested after the police found a book related to the Islamic State (IS) inside their residence.

This may turn out to be nothing, but I went to the source and found this interesting.

http://www.adaderana.lk/news/54695/s...i-lanka-report

According to reports, one of the men was arrested after a library book on terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) was discovered in his home during a home search. Four out of the remaining men were arrested in the Negombo city area, and are all flight engineering students. It has been reported that a type of gun used for hunting was discovered in their home upon searching.

This could play out either way, but I'll focus on the paranoid potential. An air gun won't kill anyone, but it is a good way to train in marksmenship skills quietly and in the basement of a safehouse without attracting any attention. As for the flight engineer piece, it would potentially present some scary targeting opportunities. My more rational side suspects they'll be released.

https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/285260.pdf

Foreign terrorist groups continue to draw radicalized Maldivians as foreign terrorist fighters; Maldives has sent the highest per capita number of foreign terrorist fighters to Syria and Iraq in prior years, according to some measures. Some of these fighters are now returning to the islands, where there are few laws or structures to deal with the threat they may pose.