Sri Lanka was hit by a wave of deadly bombings on Easter Sunday [1] that targeted Christian churches and high-end hotels [2].
Officials say 290 people were killed and another 500 people were injured in the suicide attacks.
Most of the dead are Sri Lankan nationals, but about 35 people from other countries are believed to have been killed.
The first reports of explosions came at about 08:45 local time with six blasts reported within a small space of time. Three churches in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo’s Kochchikade district were targeted during Easter services. Blasts also rocked the Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand hotels in the country’s capital.
Police did not release a breakdown of how many people were killed and wounded at each location.
All the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers, officials said.
Police then carried out raids on two addresses and there were explosions at both. One was in Dehiwala, southern Colombo, and the other was near the Colombo district of Dematagoda in which three officers were killed.
An improvised explosive device – a 6ft-long [1.8m] plastic pipe packed with explosives – was also found and defused near the airport in Colombo.
Police also recovered 87 low-explosive detonators from the Bastian Mawatha private bus station in Pettah.
No-one has admitted carrying out the attacks, but the government has blamed a local jihadist group known as the National Thowheed Jamath who they think had help from an international network of Islamic militants.
There was another blast on Monday near a church in the capital, Colombo, as security forces tried to defuse explosives inside a vehicle that was used by the attackers.