Sri Lanka to ban burqas, close over 1,000 Islamic schools
Colombo, Sri LankaAP Sri Lanka on Saturday announced plans to ban the wearing of burqas and said it would close more than 1,000 Islamic schools known as madrassas, citing national security. Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara said he signed a paper on Friday seeking the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to ban burqas […]
Sri Lanka Catholics mark ‘Black Sunday’ for Easter victims
Colombo, Sri LankaAP Sri Lankan Roman Catholics attended Mass dressed in black on Sunday, with prayers and protests calling for justice for those killed in coordinated suicide bomb attacks on Easter Sunday two years ago. Church bells tolled and prayers were chanted at 8:45am, the time when bombs were detonated almost simultaneously at two Roman […]
Sri Lankan Catholic Church demands justice for bomb victims
Colombo, Sri LankaAP Sri Lankan Roman Catholic Church officials declared a “Black Sunday” this weekend to demand justice for the victims of 2019 Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed more than 260 people. The Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, said Tuesday that the church has been given part of a presidential commission’s report into […]
Sri Lankan bishops urge government to release blast inquiry
Colombo, Sri LankaAP Sri Lanka’s Roman Catholic bishops said on Monday that they are suspicious of the government’s motives in not sharing the report of a presidential commission of inquiry into Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks in 2019 that killed more than 260 people, and instead appointing another committee to study it. In this 21st […]
Sri Lankan archbishop seeks access to Easter bombings report
Colombo, Sri LankaAP A senior Sri Lankan church official has asked President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to give him access to a presidential commission’s report on Easter Sunday bomb attacks in 2019 that killed more than 260 people, including churchgoers. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, has written to Rajapaksa to make the request, […]
“They bombed our livelihoods” – Sri Lanka’s tourism firms struggle after attacks
Unwatuna/Galle, Sri LankaReuters Pearl Divers, a diving school on one of Sri Lanka’s most popular southern beaches, shut shop for two months after suicide bombers attacked churches and hotels on the island on Easter Sunday, killing about 250 people. It had no customers as tourists cancelled holidays, and its manager Nuwan Harshana says he took […]
Sri Lanka on alert for attacks as Archbishop slams poor church security
Updated 10:15pmColombo, Sri LankaReuters Sri Lankan security officials have warned that Islamist militants behind Easter Sunday’s suicide bombings are planning attacks and could be dressed in uniform, as the Archbishop of Colombo complained about insufficient security around churches. The militants were targeting five locations for attacks on Sunday just passed or on Monday, security sources […]
Sri Lanka bans groups suspected to be behind attacks; ringleader’s relatives wounded
Colombo, Sri LankaReuters Sri Lanka’s President on Saturday outlawed two Islamist groups suspected to be behind the suicide bombings on churches and hotels while the wife and child of the suspected ringleader were wounded during a military raid in the safe house, his family and police said. The National Thawheedh Jamaath and Jamathei Millathu Ibrahim […]
Sri Lanka imposes emergency, says international network involved in attacks
Colombo, Sri LankaReuters Sri Lanka said on Monday it was invoking emergency powers in the aftermath of devastating bomb attacks on hotels and churches, blamed on militants with foreign links, which killed 290 people and wounded nearly 500. The emergency law, which gives police and the military extensive powers to detain and interrogate suspects without […]
Sri Lanka lifts curfew after bomb attacks kill 290, wound 500
Colombo, Sri LankaReuters Authorities lifted a curfew in Sri Lanka on Monday, a day after 290 people were killed and about 500 wounded by a string of bombings that tore through churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday. There was still no claim of responsibility for the attacks on two churches and four hotels in […]