At least 207 die in Sri Lanka attacks
Suicide bombers strike churches, hotels on Easter
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Suicide bombers struck churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing more than 200 people in a highly coordinated attack that targeted Christians and foreigners in this island nation.
No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, the worst violence here since theendof the civilwar a decade ago. Thirteen people have been arrested, police said, and three police officers were killed in a raid on a house as they attempted to interrogate an individual.
The dead included “several” Americans, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. He blamed “radical terrorists.” Pompeo condemned the attacks “in the strongest terms.”
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe said the suspects were “local.” He told reporters that elements of the government had prior intelligence about the attacks.
“Information was there,” he said at a news conference. “That is a matter that we need to look into.”
Blasts ripped through three churches in the cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa at approximately 8:45 a.m. as worshippers were gathering for services, police said. Bombers also struck three hotels and a banquet hall in Colombo, the nation’s capital.
Ruwan Wijewardene, Sri Lanka’s defense minister, said the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers. Six of the bombings occurred between 8:45 and 9:30 a.m.
Therewas a seventh blast at a banquet hall about 2 p.m., and an eighth at the house raided by police at about 2:45 p.m.
Sri Lanka is a predominantly Buddhist nation but is also home to significant Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities. Easter is the holiest day of the Christian calendar.
At least 66 people were killed in Colombo and 104 in the nearby town of Negombo, officials said. Twenty-eight people were killed in the eastern city of Batticaloa.
Three police officers were killed ina “scuffle” at a house in the Demtagoda area of Colombo, police said. They had gone to the house to interrogate an individual.
At least 11 of the dead at National Hospital in Colombo were foreigners, including two who held U.S. and British citizenship, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Sri Lankan authorities announced a nationwide curfew, effective immediately. They blocked Facebook and the messaging application WhatsApp in an attempt to halt the spread of false and inflammatory messages. Security was heightened at churches across the country.
Wickremesinghe, the prime minister, condemned “the cowardly attacks on our people today” and urged the country to remain “united and strong.”
Other foreigners among the victims identified by officials included three from Britain, three from India, two fromTurkey and one from Portugal. The bodies of 25 people believed to be foreigners were at the Colombo Judicial Medical Officer’s Mortuary.
The SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist activity online, reported Sunday that Islamic State supporters were portraying the attacks as revenge for strikes on mosques and Muslims. Sri Lankan officials did not identify suspects or discuss potential motives for the attacks.
The deadliest attack was at St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, a beach town about 22 miles north of Colombo. Negombo, known as “little Rome,” is dotted with Catholic churches.
Another attack targeted St. Anthony’s Kochchikade, the largest Catholic congregation in Colombo. Images from inside the church showed shattered wooden pews and floors stained with blood.
A third explosion took place at Zion Church in Batticaloa, where 28 people were killed.
Blasts also struck three luxury hotels in Colombo.
Two people at the Shangri-LaHotel in Colombo described a powerful explosion that made the ground shake just before 9 a.m. Photos showed broken windows and shattered glass on a street next to the hotel.
At the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, the blast tookplace in a restaurant on the ground floor, the hotel wrote on Twitter. It said the injured were promptly evacuated.
Explosions were also reported at the Kingsbury Hotel and theNewTropical Inn.
Sri Lanka, a popular destination for tourists, has seen intermittent conflict between religious groups, but nothing on the scale of Sunday’s attacks.
The bombings were the worst violence to hit Colombo since 1996, when a blast at the country’s Central Bank killed nearly 100 people. That attack was carried out by the Tamil Tigers, which waged a war for a separate Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka’s north for more than 30 years.
Messages of condolence and condemnation poured in fromaround theworld.
President Donald Trump tweeted :“The United States offers heartfelt condolences to the great people of Sri Lanka. We stand ready to help!”
India, Sri Lanka’s neighbor, strongly condemned what it called a “ghastly and heinous act” and said it stood with the people of Sri Lanka “in this hour of grief.”