Apr 24 (DM) This is the factory where the Easter Sunday attacks were masterminded and the mother of Satan suicide bombs are believed to have been built, MailOnline can reveal. The copper factory, in Wellampitiya, a north-eastern suburb of Colombo, belonged to calm and devout Inshaf Ahamad, who is understood to have blown himself up at a hotel frequented by foreigners in the atrocity. more..

Apr 24 (CT) Waves of massive despondency are swept across the island after the Govt failed to avert a forewarned and informed terror attack on Easter Sunday, which accounted for over 320 lives. Govt including PM and Cabinet Ministers should step down from their glorious positions forthwith because they are no longer eligible to serve the people of SL who elected them. This Govt should be dissolved not only for their incompetence but for the gross betrayal of the trust of citizens of the country. more..

Apr 24 (FT) Never in the history of SL has there been such a masterly engineered and flawlessly executed terror attack on soft targets to bring down a calamity of incalculable magnitude. These heartless and mentally deranged criminals who masterminded this mayhem have no religion, no morals and not even an iota of love for humanity. They are the scum of society. The country and its people are obviously in a state of shock. It will take several more Easters and years to forget more..

Apr 24 (DN) SLFP General Secretary, MP Daysiri Jayasekara said the organisation called National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) and other similar extremist organisations which are said to be behind the recent bomb attacks should be banned in the country. “We plan to request President Maithripala Sirisena to take prompt action to ban these organisations just as the LTTE was banned during the terror period,” he said. more..

Apr 24 (AD) A spokesperson of the U.S. Embassy in Colombo has confirmed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US intelligence and law enforcement agency, will be assisting Sri Lanka in the investigations on Easter Day attacks. The U.S. Embassy says the FBI is on the ground in the country to help assist its investigation into the Easter suicide bombings that killed 359 people. The embassy said it was part of the support extended by US President Donald Trump. more..

Apr 24 (EN) State-owned National Insurance Trust Fund will pay 25 million rupees each in advance insurance claims to The Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand Hotels following the Easter Sunday bombings, a top official said. "We have yet to do assessments on the full extent of the damage," NITF Chairman Manjula de Silva said. "We will be paying 25 million rupees each as an advance to two hotels," he said. The local luxury hotels Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury will receive the advances, more..

Apr 24 (AFP) For years, Sri Lanka's Muslim community warned authorities about a firebrand cleric. Now it seems Zahran Hashim may have played a key role in one of the worst attacks in the country's history. A video released Tuesday by the Islamic State group, which earlier claimed responsibility for the Easter attacks that killed over 350 people, appears to prominently feature Hashim. He appears to be the round-faced cleric more..

Apr 24 (EN) Sri Lanka will face heightened risks to its growth outlook and funding needs and lower tourism earnings after the Easter Sunday suicide bombings which killed over 300 people, including foreigners, Fitch Ratings has said. The rating agency said in its Asia-Pacific sovereign credit overview for the second quarter of 2019 that outlooks for sovereigns remain stable, with global financial conditions easing, while global growth prospects have deteriorated. more..

Apr 24 (AD) MP Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has sent a letter to Prez Sirisena calling for immediate arrests of Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and IGP Pujith Jayasundara. MP Rajapakshe says that, on 18th Nov 2016, he had revealed information on these attacks and the extremist Islamic terrorist organizations in connection with it. However, several ministers and MPs had slandered him, considering him a tribal. In his letter, the MP says the IGP and the Defence Secretary have concealed more..

Apr 24 (DM) The Easter Sunday tragedy is a consequence of a weak govt, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told Parliament. Speaking during the emergency debate in the House, he said people will not be able to get on with their day to day lives continuously if the govt goes on in the way it is doing things today. MP, therefore, faulted Prez, PM, Defence officials for the attacks last Sunday. “The whole govt including more..

Apr 24 (AD) Another suspicious motorcycle which had been left unattended at Gas Works Street in Pettah has been destroyed by the bomb disposal unit through a controlled explosion. The suspicious motorcycle was discovered by Police Special Task Force (STF) personnel based on information received. The bomb disposal unit was called in and the bike was then carefully brought to the middle of the road, which was evacuated and closed off, before the bomb squad inspected it. more..

Apr 24 (CNN) Matt Linsey's face is peppered with minute scars from the shrapnel and debris that hit him, as he recalls the split-second decision he and his two children made to run, rather than hide, just after the first of two bombs went off. "The bomb went off and they both were running toward me," he said. "I knew there'd be another bomb because there always is with these things." His instinct was right, but it was as they fled that the second blast hit his children, Daniel and Amelie, more..

Apr 24 (NR) Parliament today approved the implementation of Emergency Regulations in the country. The resolution presented by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe under the Public Security Ordinance, to implement emergency regulations in the country through the Proclamation made by the President was approved without a vote. Accordingly, Emergency Regulations will be in force for a period of 30 days. more..

Apr 24 (DM) Batticaloa suicide bomber had reportedly targeted the St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral, but failed in his attempt as the Easter mass had ended early. The male suicide bomber, identified as Umar from the eastern town of Oddamavadi, blew himself up in the Zion Church in Central Road, Batticaloa at around 9 am just as mass was to start, claiming 28 lives, including 14 children, and injuring scores more. Church sources and residents said a suspicious character more..

Apr 24 (KT) Police are today appealing for people who have returned to the UK from Sri Lanka to share with them any footage or images they have captured of the terrorist attacks on 21 April in Sri Lanka. Footage and pictures can be uploaded at the secure website www.ukpoliceimageappeal.co.uk. Acting Commander Alexis Boon, of the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command, said: “We are specifically looking for images and footage taken at the scenes of the incidents in Sri Lanka, more..

Apr 24 (AP) A spate of attacks against mosques, shrines and followers of Sufi sheikhs in Sri Lanka more than a decade ago point to early warning signs of fundamentalism taking root among a sliver of the country’s Muslims. The Easter attacks in Sri Lanka that killed more than 350 people in churches and hotels showed how the warnings went largely unheeded. It also exposed how a legacy of civil war, marginalization, more..

Apr 24 (Island) National Peace Council has expressed shock "at the evident lack of coordination within the govt and urge political leaders to visibly cooperate with each other in the national interest especially in this time of massive crisis". Issuing a statement on the Easter Sunday carnage, NPC said: The PM in his statement stated that a top SL police official issued an advisory warning of potential suicide attacks on churches but unfortunately no action was taken to follow up on this warning. more..

Apr 24 (AM) President Sirisena has convened an all-party meeting tomorrow at 10 AM. The all-party meeting is aimed at discussing the country's future course of action in the wake of the Easter Sunday attack. A source from the Prez's Office expressed optimism that representatives from all political parties would attend the meeting, given the current circumstances. Meanwhile, the Prez has also convened a religious leaders' meeting at 4 PM tomorrow, to discuss the same matter. more..

Apr 24 (AP) President Sirisena has asked for the resignations of the defense secretary and national police chief, a dramatic internal shake-up after security forces shrugged off intelligence reports warning of possible attacks before Easter bombings that killed over 350 people, the president's office said Wednesday. It wasn't immediately clear who would be replacing them, but Prez said during a televised speech Tuesday more..

Apr 24 (AD) Former General Secretary of UNP, Tissa Attanayake, has been discharged from the case filed against him for allegedly preparing forged documents as the Colombo High Court today closed the case. When the case was taken up today before Colombo High Court Judge Vikum Kaluarachchi, the attorney representing the defendant informed the court that his client apologizes if the publicizing of the document, which is the basis of the case, has caused any difficulty or loss to the plaintiffs; more..

Apr 24 (DM) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe should resign after admitting that his actions had crippled the military intelligence services as well as the work done by the security forces in the name of safeguarding human rights, MP Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera said yesterday. He told a news conference that Mr. Wickremesinghe acted to cripple the military intelligence in 2001 and even under the present govt the security forces were weakened as a result of his actions. more..

Apr 24 (AP) Before the undertakers could move in, Anusha Kumari wrested herself away from her sisters and flung herself on the three coffins, wailing. In an instant on Sunday, the 43-year-old woman was left childless and a widow when suicide bombers launched a coordinated attack on churches and luxury hotels in and near Sri Lanka’s capital of Colombo. The toll was highest at St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo. more..

Apr 24 (Island) Chief suspect or leader of the Tawheed Jamath, Zaharan Hashim had been not in the list of the suicide bombers who caused terror attacks on the Easter Sunday, said the main Muslim organisation in SL, All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU). ACJU Assistant Secretary Murshid Mulaffar said that the suspect now in hiding hailed from Kattankudy in the Batticaloa District and was a frequent visitor to South India. Mulaffar, speaking on behalf of ACJU Chairperson Rizwe Mufthi, more..

Apr 24 (AJ) Mohamed Hasan has barely left his home in Colombo since a string of deadly blasts struck Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, afraid he could be attacked because he is Muslim. He has a job at a printing press, but the 41-year-old's family have begged him to stay home. "They are worried that if I go out, will I be able to come back alive?" he told AFP news agency outside the Jumma mosque in Dematagoda, where he had ventured briefly to pray. More than 350 people were killed more..

Apr 24 (FT) Easter Sunday’s Suicide bombings in Sri Lanka will affect tourism and could have short term impacts on foreign direct and portfolio investments but investors should look at strengthened economic fundamentals, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said. The economy was on a steady path of recovery following a series of natural disasters in the form of droughts and floods in 2016/2017, and more..

Apr 25 (DN) The death toll after the series of suicide bomb explosions that took place in eight places including three churches and three leading hotels on Easter Sunday, reached 321 by yesterday (23). Over 500 people were also injured. As of noon yesterday, 211 were receiving treatment at five state hospitals and 85% of the bodies had been handed over to the families. Total number of admissions to the NHSL from Sunday morning to Monday morning, was 267, of which 111 are still receiving more..

Apr 25 (CT) Since much has been written on the completely unexpected catastrophe that hit our nation on Easter Sunday, I wish to limit this piece to just TWO main points: how do we understand ourselves individually and as a society recovering from this and how do we avoid making past mistakes. As such, it will avoid many issues that others have already written about. It’s not just psychologists who are familiar with the Kubler-Ross characterization of the stages of grief more..

Apr 25 (CT) The Easter Sunday Bombings, which killed over 300 innocent people, mostly worshippers, came as a rude shock to the Muslim community. Muslim families watched in disbelief as the events unfolded and the finger was pointed at Islamic extremists. They could not believe that such a crime would be perpetrated in the name of a faith that has stood for peace for over a thousand years, a faith that has had, as a basic teaching, more..

Apr 25 (Island) In the wake of the Easter Sunday bombings, the Peace-Loving Moderate Muslims in SL (PLMM) has supposedly urged the govt to ban the religious movement National Thawheed Jamat. In a letter addressed to Prez and other politicians, PLMM has stated; "This movement has fast become a cancer within the Muslim community in SL, preaching and practicing religious intolerance, exerting pressure on other Islamic movements, making it compulsory to attend mosques, more..

Apr 25 (CT) Sri Lankans from all ethnic and religious groups – Sinhalese and Tamil, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian and Hindu – lived through terrible violence during the decades of war and terrorism that ended ten years ago. Still, no one was prepared for Easter Sunday’s atrocities, whose death toll – now over 300, with more than 500 injured – and degree of organisation make them Sri Lanka’s worst-ever terror attack. The damage to the country’s already torn social fabric is likely to be immense. more..

Apr 25 (Roar) I am greeted with suspicious looks and doubtful glances. They see my overgrown beard and the big backpack I’m carrying and view me with clear apprehension in their eyes. I smile but they do not return it. Then, one woman sees me, gasps and cries out: “How dare you come out like that near our homes? When bombs are going off everywhere! Don’t you know we are all afraid? Can’t you hear us crying? more..

Apr 25 (DN) Sri Lanka is reeling with shock and horror from the effects of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks that have left at least 359 people including 36 foreigners dead and shattered the peace and tranquillity the country enjoyed since the conclusion of the Eelam war ten years ago. The blasts- eight in all- began on Easter Sunday morning as mass was being celebrated at St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade in Colombo, at St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo and Zion Church in Batticaloa. more..

Apr 25 (Island) Former Army Commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, commenting on the current security situation and new challenges to national security, during yesterday’s parliamentary debate on Emergency, compared and contrasted the ISIS affiliate, the National Thowheed Jamath (NJT) and the LTTE. He also told the govt some home truths while urging the Opposition to help counter the new form of terror which the country was faced with. He minced no words when he said that in any more..

Apr 25 (AFP) The streets of Sri Lanka's Katuwapitiya should be full of the sound of children's games. But after deadly Easter attacks that killed at least 45 children, they have fallen silent. "These streets are usually full of children playing," said Suraj Fernando, whose own 12-year-old grandson Enosh was among those killed. "Now everybody is inside because they are sad and scared." The community is in the town of Negombo, more..

Apr 25 (Island) The numerous offers of assistance to Sri Lanka from some of the world's foremost powers to enable it to defuse the grave security threats faced by it in the aftermath of the Easter morn carnage are bound to have a reassuring impact on the local political establishment in particular but Sri Lanka needs to differentiate short and medium term remedial measures from long term ones in this connection. To be sure, there are pervasive threats to life and limb currently but more..

Apr 25 (CT) The Horrifying / Inhuman April 21st attacks should not be seen merely attack on a specific religion at this time. Rather the attack is on the very heart of the county’s plural, multi-ethnic social fabric. There has been no history of violent animosity between Muslims and Christians. However, over a period of time both communities have been targeted by few radical Buddhists on multiple occasions. They were both victims of the violence but never responded. more..

Apr 25 (Reuters) Sri Lankan housewife Fathima Fazla thought of her neighbors in the grand three-storey home across the street as the wealthy celebrities of her humble Colombo suburb. She had no idea how infamous they would become. Two brothers who lived at the white house on Mahawela Gardens have emerged as key players in suicide attacks on Easter Sunday that killed more than 350 people and stunned an island state more..

Apr 25 (DN) Five corruption cases filed against former Minister Johnston Fernando and two others were yesterday postponed by Colombo Additional Magistrate Saliya Abyewardena. The cases are allegedly for causing an unlawful loss of Rs. 40 million to the govt by employing 153 employees of the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) for election work between 2010 and 2014. Accordingly, cases against former Minister Johnston Fernando, former CWE Chairman Eraj Fernando and more..

Apr 25 (DN) Lankan women’s 400m relay team created a new Sri Lankan record (3m:35.06s) on the final day of the 23rd Asian Athletics Championship at Khalifa Stadium in Doha Qatar yesterday, but had to be satisfied with fourth place. The previous SL record, 3m:35.42s was established in 1999 at Kathmandu, Nepal. The record breaking relay team included Dilshi Kumarasinghe, Nadeesha Ramanayaka, Upamalika Ratnakumari and Nimali Liyanarachchi. more..

Apr 25 (Island) Triple jumper Vidusha Lakshani credited her success at the Asian Athletics Championships to the dedication of her coach Luis Miranda and the support given by her parents and many others following her bronze medal victory on a bittersweet penultimate day of the regional event at the Khalifa International Stadium here in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday. Lakshani cleared a seasonal best distance of 13.53 metres more..