For Sri Lanka, a Long History of Violence
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The scene after a Tamil Tiger suicide bombing at a mosque in Godapitiya, Sri Lanka, in 2009. Credit Reuters
By Mujib Mashal
April 21, 2019
After a civil war that dragged on for nearly three decades, Sri Lanka had been enjoying a decade of relative calm. That was shattered on Sunday when a coordinated bombing attack
killed more than 200 people.
Here is some context to help you understand the latest events in the small island nation.
Sri Lanka is known for its tremendous natural beauty, which attracted more than two million tourists in 2018 alone. But its people have long borne a burden of violence. How the latest attack fits into history of conflict, if it does at all, was not immediately clear.
The country gained independence from British rule in 1948 as the dominion of Ceylon, and became the Republic of Sri Lanka in 1972.
But much of its history has been marred by sectarian tensions. And more recently, it has been caught up in much larger
regional rivalries between China and India.
Population and ethnic groups
About 22 million people live in Sri Lanka, in communities that are often diverse and mixed. More than 70 percent of the population is Buddhist.
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Sri Lanka Bombing Maps: What We Know About 8 Attack Sites
The attacks struck churches, five-star hotels and other sites in multiple cities.
Smaller ethnic and religious groups include Hindus, at over 12 percent, Muslims at under 10 percent, and Catholics at about 6 percent. At least three churches were targeted by Sunday’s bombings.
Despite their clear majority, Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists have recently been stoking fears that the minority groups, particularly the Muslims, are increasing in numbers and influence. The nationalist fervor has led to violent clashes.
A soldier searching ethnic Tamils in Vavuniya in 2007. Tensions between Tamils and Sinhalese Buddhists led to a 26-year civil war that ended in 2009.CreditReuters
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A soldier searching ethnic Tamils in Vavuniya in 2007. Tensions between Tamils and Sinhalese Buddhists led to a 26-year civil war that ended in 2009. Credit Reuters
The Tamil Tigers
A long history of disenfranchisement among minority Tamil groups, who are largely Hindu, at the hands of the Sinhalese Buddhists led to a civil war in the 1980s.
The Tamil Tigers, an armed insurgent group that identified itself as secular, launched deadly attacks, including some of the earliest use of suicide bombings as a tactic of insurgency. In response, the Sri Lankan Army carried out brutal campaigns, largely focused on the Tamil stronghold in the northeast.
The civil war ended in 2009 after a large-scale operation by the army that defeated the Tamil Tigers and killed its leader.
There is no exact casualty toll, but the United Nations has suggested that as many as
40,000 civilians were killed in the last stage of the war alone.
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