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Breaking: Many killed in explosions targeted at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. bbc.co.uk/news/world-asi…
At least 137 reported dead in blasts targeting Christians on Easter Sunday & foreigners in hotels. AFP reports that an intelligence alert was issued days ago warning about suicide bombers from a radical Muslim group planning to bomb churches. afp.com/en/news/1272/b… #SriLanka
Sri Lankan police spokesman says 207 killed. BBC reports that seven have been arrested and the bombings are believed to be suicide attacks carried out by one group. #SriLanka
Following the church and hotel bombings in #SriLanka, security has been stepped up at churches in Pakistan. Pakistani Christians & other religious minorities have been targeted in many attacks by Muslim extremists.
Because the attacks targeted hotels in addition to local churches, some of the victims are foreign nationals. Officials say the dead include people from the US, UK, Netherlands, Portugal, and China. #SriLanka
Cardinal Archbishop of Colombo says “we never expected such a thing to happen & especially on Easter Sunday.”
“People went to church without knowing anything…and now many of them have been killed.”
#SriLanka
“People went to church without knowing anything…and now many of them have been killed.”
#SriLanka
#SriLanka is a very multi-religious society in South Asia. About 70.2% of the population is Buddhist. 12.6% are Hindus. 9.7% Muslims. Christians are about 7% of the population. World Bank estimates the population is 21.44 million as of 2017.
#SriLanka update: The number of deaths is now updated to 290. Number injured estimated to be 500+. The prime minister has admitted that the state did not act on intel that there were planned attacks. Attackers thought to belong to radical Islamist group. bbc.co.uk/news/world-asi… 
Media reports say the suicide bomber at the Cinnamon Grand hotel queued in line at the buffet line before detonating for maximum damage. His name registration at the hotel was “Mohamed Azzam Mohamed.” #SriLanka theguardian.com/world/2019/apr…
Update: #SriLanka government has blamed jihadist group National Tawhid Jamat for the bombings that killed nearly 300 & injured 500 on Easter Sunday. President Sirisena says the group has international connections. Officials say all the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers.
India shared intel with #SriLanka more than a week before the attacks that a jihadist group was planning to attack churches. Sri Lankan officials already knew back in January that Islamists had stockpiled weapons & detonators. Why didn’t anyone act? nytimes.com/2019/04/22/wor…
Back in January, Sri Lankan officials found a cache with weapons, Islamic propaganda, & more than 100kg of explosives in an investigation into homegrown Islamist groups.
Update: #SriLanka government has announced that it has information the Easter Sunday bombings was a revenge attack for the New Zealand mosque shootings. The death toll of Sunday’s attack has risen to 321. wsj.com/articles/sri-l…
Update: The Islamic State has claimed the Easter Sunday attacks in #SriLanka.
The death toll in #SriLanka has risen to 359. At a press conference, the deputy defence minister says one of the suicide bombers studied in the UK & did his post graduate studies in Australia. He says most of the attackers are well-educated & come from well to-do families.
The name of one of the #SriLanka bombers who received university education in both the UK and Australia is Abdul Latif Jamil Mohammed. Two of the other known suicide bombers are reported to be brothers, a common occurrence in jihadist attacks (radicalism in the family).
Update: Inshaf & Ilham Ibrahim are the affluent brothers involved in the #SriLanka jihadist bombings. When police raided their affluent family home, one of the brother’s pregnant wife detonated a bomb killing herself, her children, & 3 police officers. abc.net.au/news/2019-04-2…
#SriLanka death toll has been revised down to 253 dead. Meanwhile, police have launched raids. They say they exchanged fire w/one armed Islamist group. They've also seized explosives & Islamic State propaganda. Security has been increased around mosques. bbc.co.uk/news/world-asi…
15 people were killed in suicide bombings when police attempted to raid a house near the hometown of the #SriLanka ringleader. The area is home to many Muslims. Islamist gunmen fired on police when they approached. 6 children killed in blasts. bbc.co.uk/news/world-asi…
#SriLanka and regional press is reporting that the Deputy Mayor of Negombo, Mohamed Ansar, has been arrested. The Muslim deputy mayor was reportedly found in possession of a weapon.
“No deaths were reported, but many Muslims fear it is only a matter of time.” NYT reports on how Muslims are being victimized by maurading “Christian gangs” & possible colluding police after the #SriLanka Easter bombings last week. nytimes.com/2019/04/24/wor…
Terrorism in the family: “The father & two brothers of the alleged organiser of the Easter Sunday bombings in #SriLanka, Zahran Hashim, were killed in a security forces operation on Friday, police say.” bbc.co.uk/news/world-asi…
Update: Under the state of emergency, #SriLanka has banned face coverings in public, citing the need to be able to identify people.
