News18 Daybreak | Bombs Tear Through Sri Lankan Churches, Hotels on Easter Killing Over 250 and Other Stories You Need to Watch Out For
News18 Daybreak | Bombs Tear Through Sri Lankan Churches, Hotels on Easter Killing Over 250 and Other Stories You Need to Watch Out For
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Sri Lanka rocked by 8 explosions on Easter Sunday; PM Wickremesinghe says govt had prior intel

The island nation of Sri Lanka was left reeling on Sunday morning from a series of terrorist attacks which ripped through eight locations in the country, leaving over 250 people dead and more than 450 injured.

Three Indian nationals were also confirmed to be among those killed in the blasts, which took place in four luxury hotels and three churches. The churches in particular saw a massive number of casualties as throngs of people had gathered for the Easter Day Mass.

Police have arrested 13 suspects so far in connection with the attacks and even seized a van, which they believe was used by the perpetrators.Decade’s worst: Reports on Sunday described the attacks as the deadliest violence that Sri Lanka had seen since the bloody civil war a decade ago.

The first wave of blasts took place between 8.30 am and 9.05 am, with near simultaneous explosions hitting six locations, which included the Cinnamon Grand and Shagri La hotels in the capital city of Colombo.

During that time, blasts also took place at Colombo's historic St Anthony's Shrine, the St Sebastian's church in the town of Negombo — north of the capital — and the Zion Church in the east-coast town of Batticaloa.

Hours later, there were two more blasts — one of them at another Colombo hotel named Kingsbury. Sri Lankan government confirmed that most of the attacks were suicide bombings​.

Police said 35 foreigners were among the dead, including British, Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese and American citizens, with the US and Britain later confirming their nationals were killed. Nine foreign nationals are still said to be missing.

Sri Lanka blocked several social media networks in the wake of terrorist attacks on Sunday, including Facebook and the messaging service WhatsApp.“This was a unilateral decision," said Harindra Dassanayake, a presidential adviser in Sri Lanka. Officials blocked the platforms, he said, out of fear that misinformation about the attacks and hate speech could spread, provoking more violence.

Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of External affairs confirmed the deaths of three Indians bearing the names Lakshmi, Narayan Chandrashekhar and Ramesh.Who dunnit: While authorities are yet to confirm the names of the perpetrators, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed that the government had prior intel about the attacks but had failed to take adequate steps to prevent it.

According to top intelligence sources, Zahran Hasim of National Thowheed Jama'ath of Sri Lanka and his associates had hatched a plan to carry out a suicide attack on or before April 22. Sri Lanka's police chief Pujuth Jayasundara had also sounded a nationwide alert 10 days before Sunday's attacks but preventive measures weren’t taken.

India is also said to have given specific intel to Sri Lanka about the possibility of an attack.

Political leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mamata Banerjee and K Chandrashekar Rao also denounced the attacks in separate Twitter posts.

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