President Sirisena vows to defeat ‘terrorism’ following the Easter bombings as police look for 140 ISIL suspects.
A series of coordinated bombings on Easter Sunday rocked Sri Lanka, killing at least 253 people (death toll revised down from 359 by authorities) and wounding 500 others.
The attacks were the deadliest in the island nation since the end of its civil war 10 years ago, and targeted three churches as well as four hotels in the capital Colombo.
Nearly all victims were Sri Lankan, many of them Christian worshippers attending Easter Mass. Dozens of foreigners were also killed.
Authorities said the attacks were carried out by two little-known Muslim organisations.
Catholic priests allowed journalists inside St Anthony’s Church in the capital for the first time since it was targeted on Easter Sunday.
Broken glass littered the sanctuary’s damaged pews and blood still stained the floor. Shoes left by panicked worshippers remained in the darkened church, and broken bottles of holy water and flowers were strewn on the floor.
The archbishop of Colombo said there will be no Sunday Masses until further notice after the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka.
Speaking at a news conference in the capital, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith appealed for financial support to rebuild the lives of the affected people and reconstruct the churches targeted in the bombings.
“I assured the Muslim community not to have any fears after the attacks,” he said, adding that all four major religions in Sri Lanka have “a very good relationship”.
Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka could drop by up to 30 percent in the wake of Easter Sunday bombings, with losses of $1.5bn this year.
“Tourism will be the worst affected,” Samaraweera told reporters. “We expect a 30 percent drop in arrivals and that means a loss of about $1.5 billion in foreign exchange.”
Samaraweera said the country could take up to two years to fully recover the attacks
