Terrorism in a Tourist Paradise | security-blog

Terrorism in a Tourist Paradise | security-blog
Once again the spectre of female suicide bombers raises its head after a female blew herself up killing 24 innocent people in the tourist paradise of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is billed by holiday companies as a tropical paradise where you can leave your cares and worries behind. Considering The Tamil Tigers have been fighting in Sri Lanka since 1983 for a separate state for the nation’s ethnic Tamil minority after decades of marginalisation at the hands of governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority it’s no surprise that more than 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.



A military source indicated the attack took place after military forces forced the rebels into a small strip of land on the north eastern coast with the intention of ending the 25 year old civil war.

Hundreds of civilians had crossed the front lines and were being searched by soldiers before being sent to camps farther south. When the female suicide bomber was frisked, she detonated the body worn bomb killing 24 people and injuring 20 others. The attack was aimed at one of the military weak spots.

Given the rebels have been accused of more than 200 suicide attacks and are listed as a terror group by the USA and the European Union, it begs the question of how long will it be before the rebels attack softer targets like the thousands of tourist who visit other regions of Sri Lanka.

My best advice to those inclined to idle their two weeks vacation time in paradise is to seek to minimise their own personal security risk.