# Terrorists target Christians in Sri Lanka (Ceylon)



## Edward (Apr 21, 2019)

"They" are at it again, targeting Christians in Asia. I don't think the world leaders will be able to pass this event off as an electrical short.

Reactions: Praying 1 | Sad 7


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## jwithnell (Apr 21, 2019)

Even the media is recognizing this as a coordinated attack. This has been on my mind all day


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## Ryan&Amber2013 (Apr 21, 2019)

The amount of Christians murdered this year has doubled since last. This is terrible.


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## C. M. Sheffield (Apr 21, 2019)

jwithnell said:


> Even the media is recognizing this as a coordinated attack. This has been on my mind all day


I watched the reports from all of the major networks and noted the conspicuous lack of any mention of the motive behind the attack or of the Muslim perpetrators that carried it out.


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## Tom Hart (Apr 22, 2019)

C. M. Sheffield said:


> I watched the reports from all of the major networks and noted the conspicuous lack of any mention of the motive behind the attack or of the Muslim perpetrators that carried it out.



I have read that the attackers have yet to be identified. What makes you say they were Muslims?


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## Ed Walsh (Apr 22, 2019)

Tom Hart said:


> they were Muslims?



They were identified this morning by name as a Muslim Jihadi group. The last I heard the death toll is up to 290.

Reactions: Informative 1 | Sad 1


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## Edward (Apr 22, 2019)

Tom Hart said:


> I have read that the attackers have yet to be identified. What makes you say they were Muslims?



Why would anyone think they were anything but Muslims. Then again, lots of folks buy the Notre Dame short circuit story.

"No one has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings, but Senaratne said that the attackers belonged to Islamist group National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ)" - RT.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tom Hart (Apr 22, 2019)

Edward said:


> Why would anyone think they were anything but Muslims. Then again, lots of folks buy the Notre Dame short circuit story.
> 
> "No one has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings, but Senaratne said that the attackers belonged to Islamist group National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ)" - RT.



Sri Lanka is hardly a Muslim-majority country. It has experienced lots of terrorism from the Tamil Tigers in the past, but an attack on Christians is out of character for them.

I looked on different websites but could find not even the barest mention of the identity of the attackers. Last I checked, the BBC has a dozen articles on the topic but not one on the terrorists themselves. [EDIT: The BBC has jusr now put up an article that mentions the jihadist group now accused of the attacks.]

Now the media silence on the attackers appears quite suspicious.


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## TariOronar (Apr 22, 2019)

From the various sources I've read this morning, it was a domestic Islamic terrorist group National Thowheek Jaamath. Its suspected they had international support, but more investigation is needed on that point. There were 7 suicide bombers, multiple unattended and unexploded bombs have been found, death toll is up to 290 with 500+ injured.

I'm not terribly surprised that there hasn't been more information on the bombers -- sometimes investigations take time, especially when it's large scale.


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## C. M. Sheffield (Apr 22, 2019)

Tom Hart said:


> I have read that the attackers have yet to be identified. What makes you say they were Muslims?


That's what the government was saying as late as yesterday evening. But RT was the only news outlet reporting it. The NYT is reporting that "Ten days before the bombings, a top Sri Lankan police official warned the security services that a radical Islamist group was planning suicide attacks against churches, but no action was taken against the group."


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## LadyCalvinist (Apr 22, 2019)

May God comfort and strengthen those Christians who are wounded and hurting, and may those who have passed on behold HIS majesty.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tom Hart (Apr 22, 2019)

C. M. Sheffield said:


> That's what the government was saying as late as yesterday evening. But RT was the only news outlet reporting it. The NYT is reporting that "Ten days before the bombings, a top Sri Lankan police official warned the security services that a radical Islamist group was planning suicide attacks against churches, but no action was taken against the group."



All I could find at first (some time after the Sri Lankan government's announcement) was that the act was carried out by an "international network".

I do wonder why they targeted Christians. I'd think there would be bigger targets in Sri Lanka. But, then again, Christians are less likely to retaliate.


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## JTB.SDG (Apr 22, 2019)

The US embassy in Sri Lanka issued a warning before the attack (to US citizens living there). I live in another country in South Asia, and we received exactly the same warning. It seems US intelligence knew something was being planned, but not the exact location. It's just awful. There is a Sri Lankan Catholic man who lives on our street; my wife said she saw him and he was just reeling. With such a small Christian population, it's probably safe to say that if you are a Christian from Sri Lanka you either lost immediate family or friends.


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## C. M. Sheffield (Apr 22, 2019)

Tom Hart said:


> I do wonder why they targeted Christians. I'd think there would be bigger targets in Sri Lanka. But, then again, Christians are less likely to retaliate.


Because Muslims are commanded to—

“Kill the polytheists (_e.g. Trinitarians_) wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush.”—_Quran 9:5, Sahih International Translation_​


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