The Brave News

by Samuel Rodriguez

On Easter Sunday, the nation of Sri Lanka experienced a devastating tragedy, as six suicide bombers successfully launched six separate attacks throughout the country.

Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean just southwest of India.

Three of the six bombers attacked luxury hotels, while the other three attacked churches as they had Easter celebrations. In total, the attacks claimed the lives of at least 321 people and injured 500 more, according to CNN.

On Tuesday, the ISIS terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attacks as the group’s Amaq news agency called the bombers “Islamic state fighters,” according to The New York Times.

The Sri Lankan government stated that the bombings might have been a retaliation for the killings of 50 people last month in New Zealand, and that two Islamic extremist groups might have been involved.

The attack is seen to many Christians around the world as an assault on their religion. At one Catholic church in Negombo, more than 100 people were killed, according to The Washington Post, as the attack took place on Easter, one of the most important dates on the Christian calendar.

Less than eight percent of Sri Lankans are Christian, with the majority of the nation being Buddhist. The Christian minority of Sri Lanka was undoubtedly targeted by ISIS to presumably make a statement to the rest of the world in response to the Mosque massacre.

According to CNN, the Sri Lankan government confessed on monday that it failed to act on multiple warnings before the attack. A government spokesman said that some of the warnings came from foreign intelligence agencies. The F.B.I. has joined the investigation as accusations hinder over the Sri Lankan government’s failure to recognize and act on credible warnings about the bombings.

The nation of Sri Lanka is trying to rebuild and spur a sense of nationalism to its people, so as to help one another and grow together. No official proceedings have been announced by the government, as the country is still in mourning and figuring out various ways to help its people.