1:16 p.m. ET, April 22, 2019

Easter bombings are just the latest chapter in Sri Lanka's history of violence

Sunday's violence punctured a decade of relative peace in Sri Lanka following the end of its civil war in 2009 — where attacks were common during the struggle.

Since the country gained independence from Britain in 1948, sporadic conflicts had broken out between minority groups and the government. The most damaging period of violence was from 1983 to 2009 , with large-scale battles between separatist Tamil rebels and the military.

Though Colombo has remained largely free of violence since the war's end, there have been rising tensions between Muslim groups and the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community.

US Department of State/CNN

In March 2018, a state of emergency was imposed across the country for the first time since the civil war, following days of violence between Buddhist and Muslim communities in the central city of Kandy.