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Asia Insight

Islamic State sneaks into Asia through family terror cells

Sri Lanka bombers' wealth and choice of explosives raise red flags

MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR, Asia regional correspondent | Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan

COLOMBO -- The night before the Easter Sunday suicide bombers killed over 250 people at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka's capital and two other towns, 28-year-old Fathima Ilham called her mother and asked her to come over the next morning. She gave no hint of the carnage that was in store.

The next afternoon, the mother faced the grim truth: Fathima and her husband, 32-year-old businessman Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim, had been involved in Sri Lanka's worst act of terrorism in a decade.

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