KALMUNAI, Sri Lanka — Suicide bombings at a militants’ safe house have shaken the simple homes of this east Sri Lankan town as well as…
KALMUNAI, Sri Lanka — Suicide bombings at a militants’ safe house have shaken the simple homes of this east Sri Lankan town as well as the rest of this idyllic coast, as the investigation into the Islamic State-claimed Easter bombings has spread here.
Police and military checkpoints dot the coastal roads, with people emptying out of buses to present their identity papers. On streets lined with shuttered shops, police officers with assault rifles look warily at passers-by. Whispers persist about the leader of the IS-pledged militant group, which preached the promise of heaven through the killing of others both here and online.
The scale of the explosives seized following Friday night’s violence, as well as the continued warning of authorities that more militants remain on the loose, only add to the dread.
“Even though the security forces are here, it’s not like earlier,” said Chandima Krishanthi, a 42-year-old market vendor in nearby Ampara. “We are living in fear. It’s nothing like it used to be.”
Sri Lanka’s eastern coast was a battleground in the island nation’s 26-year civil war with the Tamil Tiger rebels, a group of secular nationalists who launched over 130 suicide bombings themselves. The war ultimately ended in 2009 with the government crushing the Tigers, with some observers believing that tens of thousands of Tamils died in the last few months of fighting alone.
Violence here in Kalmunai, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) northeast of the capital, Colombo, shattered nearly 10 years of peace on Friday night.
