Explosions Rock Sri Lanka: At Least 130 Dead, More Than 500 Wounded

On Sunday morning, as people began their Easter celebrations, a series of six explosions rocked three churches and three hotels across the nation of Sri Lanka. Two more explosions occurred later in the day.

The reported death toll hasn’t been standard across news agencies, however, conservative estimates have placed it somewhere between 130 and 150, while other sources suggest that more have been killed. Most news agencies are reporting that at least 500 have been injured.

The targeted churches were in Colombo, Negombo, and Batticaloa, according to The New York Times, while the targeted hotels, the Cinnamon Grand, the Kingsbury, the Shangri-La, and the Topical Inn, are all within Sri Lanka’s capital city of Colombo. . .

According to AFP, an alert was sent out on April 11 by Sri Lankan Police Chief Pujuth Jayasundara, stating: “A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NJT (National Thowheeth Jama’ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo.”

The outlet adds that the NJT is “a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka.” The information regarding the terrorism warning allegedly comes from “documents seen by” the news agency. (Read more from “Explosions Rock Sri Lanka: At Least 130 Dead, More Than 500 Wounded” HERE)

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