Over 290 people were killed and around 500 injured in suicide bombing attacks on Sunday, April 21st, in Sri Lanka. A radical Islamic group called National Thowheeth Jama’ath was believed to be the organization behind the attacks, however, ISIS recently claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The National Thowheeth Jama’ath is a smaller lesser known group that promotes terrorism in South Asia. The group does not have a past of terrorist attacks, only a history of vandalizing Buddhist statues. All of the suicide bombers were citizens of Sri Lanka, according to Rajitha Senaratne, the health minister, “There was an international network without which these attacks could not have succeeded.” The health minister was correct in this assumption, ISIS helped the smaller group have the organization they needed for the attacks.

There had been a warning by a top police official ten days before the bombing that a radical Islamic group was planning an attack on churches, but there was no action taken against it. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his cabinet members had not been informed of the threat.

There has been a recent struggle for power in Sri Lanka between the Prime Minister and the defense minister President Maithripala Sirisena. Last year they were both claiming to be the rightful prime minister.

This conflict seems very far away from us here in the US, however, it impacts us here as well. Several people hurt in the attacks on the churches were from the US. Also, the US has provided two billion dollars in assistance to Sri Lanka in the past, as well as being their top exporter. If the conflict worsens, the US trade relationship with the country will break down. These attacks have had a big impact on Sri Lanka and depending on how the situation is handled, it could get even worse.