Easter of blood and terror in Sri Lanka: at least six simultaneous explosions at 8.45am and two more a little later hit five churches during mass and three luxury hotels, causing at least 156 deaths, including 35 foreigners, and more than 400 wounded in three cities on the island. The toll is provisional and among the victims are Americans, British and Dutch. The crisis unit of the Farnesina is working to verify the possible involvement of Italians and has made available a number for reporting, +390636225. All Easter celebrations in the country have been canceled. In Colombo, the sanctuary of Sant'Antonio and the luxury hotels Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand Colombo were hit. In Negombo, north of the capital, a church was hit where at least 67 people died; another 25 died in a church in Batticaloa, in the east of the country, on the opposite side of the island. A massacre in some way announced, it was learned immediately after the carnage: the chief of police of the country had issued a national alert on 11 April, indicating the risk of kamikaze attacks against "important churches". The officer, Pujuth Jayasundara, was alerted by a foreign intelligence service, according to which the radical Islamic group National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) was planning to carry out suicide attacks "against important churches and the Indian diplomatic representation in Colombo. ". The radical Islamic group Ntj has been known since last year, when it was linked to a series of acts of vandalism against Buddhist symbols. “Please stay home. There are many victims, including foreigners, ”Minister for Economic Reform Harsha de Silva, who visited some of the attacked locations, wrote on Twitter. “Horrible scenes, I saw amputated limbs scattered all over the place, emergency teams were dispatched to all places. We have taken many victims to the hospital, we hope to have saved many lives, ”he added. The Sri Lankan government has declared a state of emergency and convened the security council, chaired by the premier, Ranil Wickremesing. The president, Maithripala Sirisena, asked the population to remain calm and collaborate with the authorities. In the country, Christians are 7,4% of the population. The attacks. Sri Lanka was at war for decades until 2009 with Tamil separatists until 2009. In the last year, reports Reuters, there have been 86 episodes of discrimination, threats and violence against Christians, according to the National Christian Evangelical Alliance (Nceasl), 26 in 2019, such incidents, including an attempt by Buddhist monks to interrupt a Sunday service. 70% of the 22 million inhabitants are Buddhist, 12,6% Hindu, 9,7% Muslim.
Sri Lanka's chief of police, Pujuth Jayasundara, had sent a nationwide alarm on 11 April about a possible attack in the country. The local press reports that Jayasundara has announced the attacks that occurred today in churches and hotels in the country, which resulted in over 150 deaths. "A foreign intelligence agency reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama'ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks on churches," the warning reported. The NTJ is a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka that was responsible for the vandalization of some Buddhist statues last year.
AGI