In April 2019, on Easter Sunday, Sri Lanka became the target of one of the deadliest terrorist attacks of recent years. In a day of unremitting havoc and anguish, they killed 269 people—not counting the perpetrators—and injured more than 500. From the moment the bombs went off, rumors started swirling about a conspiracy behind the events involving powerful local political forces. Those rumors continued to circulate even after the Islamic State took responsibility for the attacks. The suicide bombings and their targets had all the hallmarks of the group’s involvement.
