Jerusalem Post World News
SRI LANKA: BOMBS K**L MORE THAN 200 IN CHURCHES, HOTELS ON EASTER SUNDAY
Three Sri Lankan churches and three hotels were hit by explosions on Easter Sunday, wounding several people, police sources said.
BY REUTERS APRIL 21, 2019 23:20

Sri Lanka: Bombs k**l more than 200 in churches, hotels on Easter Sunday
Sri Lankan military officials stand guard in front of the St. Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade church after an explosion in Colombo, Sri Lanka . (photo credit: DINUKA LIYANAWATTE/REUTERS)

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - More than 200 people were k**led and at least 450 wounded in bomb blasts that ripped through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, the first major attack on the Indian Ocean island since the end of a civil war 10 years ago.

Seven people were arrested and three police officers were k**led during a security forces raid on a house in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo several hours after the attacks, many of which officials said were suicide bomb explosions.

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The government declared a curfew in Colombo and blocked access to social media and messaging sites, including Facebook and WhatsApp. It is unclear when the curfew will be lifted.

“Altogether, we have information of 207 dead from all hospitals. According to the information as of now, we have 450 injured people admitted to hospitals,” police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera told reporters.

Three churches in various parts of the country and four hotels in Colombo were hit. At least 27 of the dead were foreigners, including five British people, two of whom had dual US citizenship, and three Indians, according to officials in those countries.

Also among the fatalities were three people from Denmark, two from Turkey, and one from Portugal, officials said. There were also Chinese and Dutch among the dead, according to media reports. No Israelis were among those k**led.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said US nationals were among those k**led, but did not give details.
There are 25 unidentified bodies, believed to be of foreigners, at the Colombo Judicial Medical Officer’s mortuary, according to Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks in a country which was at war for decades with Tamil separatists until 2009, a time when bomb blasts in the capital were common.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe acknowledged that the government had some “prior information of the attack,” though ministers were not told.

He said there wasn’t an adequate response and there needed to be an inquiry into how the information was used.

He also said the government needs to look at the international links of a local terrorist group.
Agence France-Presse reported that it had seen documents showing that Sri Lanka’s police chief Pujuth Jayasundara issued an intelligence alert to top officers 10 days ago, warning that suicide bombers planned to hit “prominent churches.” He cited a foreign intelligence service as reporting that a little-known Islamist group was planning attacks.

A Sri Lanka police spokesman said he was not aware of the intelligence report.
Local Christian groups have said they faced increasing intimidation from some extremist Buddhist monks in recent years. Last year, there were clashes between the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community and minority Muslims, with some hard line Buddhist groups accusing Muslims of forcing people to convert to Islam.

Dozens were k**led in one of the blasts at St. Sebastian’s Gothic-style Catholic church in Katuwapitiya, north of Colombo. Gunasekera said the police suspected a suicide attack there. Pictures from the site showed bodies on the ground, blood on the church pews and a destroyed roof.

Local media reported 25 people were also k**led in an attack on an evangelical church in Batticaloa in Eastern Province.

The hotels hit in Colombo were the Shangri-La, the Kingsbury, the Cinnamon Grand and the Tropical Inn near the national zoo. There was no word on casualties in the hotels, but a witness told local TV he saw some body parts, including a severed head, lying on the ground beside the Tropical Inn.


The first six explosions were all reported within a short period in the morning just as church services were starting.

One of the explosions was at St. Anthony’s Shrine, a Catholic church in Kochcikade, Colombo, a tourist landmark.

The explosion at the Tropical Inn happened later and there was an eighth explosion at a house in Colombo. Police and media said that three officers were k**led and seven people detained during a raid on this location.

“I strongly condemn the cowardly attacks on our people today. I call upon all Sri Lankans during this tragic time to remain united and strong,” said the prime minister in a Tweet.

“Please avoid propagating unverified reports and speculation. The government is taking immediate steps to contain this situation.”

President Maithripala Sirisena said he had ordered the police special task force and military to investigate who was behind the attacks and their agenda.

The military was deployed, a military spokesman said, and security stepped up at Colombo’s international airport.

Last year, there were 86 verified incidents of discrimination, threats and violence against Christians, according to the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL), which represents more than 200 churches and other Christian organizations.

This year, the NCEASL recorded 26 such incidents, including one in which Buddhist monks allegedly attempted to disrupt a Sunday worship service, with the last one reported on March 25.
Out of Sri Lanka’s total population of around 22 million, 70% are Buddhist, 12.6% Hindu, 9.7% Muslim and 7.6% Christian, according to the country’s 2012 census.

The heads of major governments condemned the attacks.

US President Donald Trump said America offered “heartfelt condolences” to the Sri Lankan people and stood ready to help, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there was “no place for such barbarism in our region,” and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the bombings were “an assault on all of humanity.”

Modi told v**ers that they needed to elect him to a second term as only he can beat the “terrorists” threatening India. “Should terrorism be finished or not?,” he asked an e******n rally in the western state of Rajasthan. “Who can do this? Can you think of any name aside from Modi? Can anybody else do this?”
Pope Francis, addressing tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square to hear his Easter Sunday message: “I wish to express my affectionate closeness to the Christian community, hit while it was gathered in prayer, and to all the victims of such cruel violence.”

Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday after his death by crucifixion on Friday.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand, where a gunman shot 50 people dead in two mosques last month, said in a statement: “Collectively we must find the will and the answers to end such violence.”

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List of Islamic Terror Attacks

List of K*****gs in
the Name of Islam:
Last 29 Days To be exact 29 days of terror attacks.

This is part of the list of k*****gs in the name of Islam maintained by TheReligionofPeace.com. Most of these incidents are terror attacks. A handful are honor k*****gs or Sharia executions.
During this time period, there were 90 Islamic attacks in 21 countries, in which 468 people were k**led and 533 injured.

(TROP does not catch all attacks. Not all attacks are immediately posted).

Date Country City K**led Injured Description
2019.04.20 Syria Karama 1 2 Terrorists take out a civilian with an IED.
2019.04.20 Afghanistan Kabul 7 8 Religious radicals stage a suicide assault on a government IT building, k*****g three guards and four civilians.
2019.04.20 Mali Douentza 1 4 Jihadis attack a UN convoy, k*****g a peacekeeper.
2019.04.19 Afghanistan Herat 3 2 A Taliban car bomb sends three Afghans to Allah.
2019.04.19 Afghanistan Shirin Tagab 1 0 Fundamentalists plant a landmine that k**ls a civilian.
2019.04.19 Afghanistan Awsan Saqal 2 0 A man and woman are shot to death by the Taliban.
2019.04.19 Cameroon Tchakarmari 11 5 Children and women are among eleven innocents slain by Islamists.
2019.04.17 Somalia Wadajir 5 0 Suspected al-Shabaab enter a family home and machine-gun five members.
2019.04.17 Iraq Mukhisa 1 0 A civilian is aerated by ISIS shrapnel.
2019.04.17 Iraq Karbala 2 0 Sectarian milita shoot two rivals to death in their car.
2019.04.17 Somalia Mogadishu 4 5 Islamists set off a car bomb outside a restaurant that claims four souls.
2019.04.16 Pakistan Hazrat Mian 1 0 Extremists open fire during a disagreement at a mosque, k*****g a 70-year-old.
2019.04.16 DRC Kamango 8 5 ISIS claims an attack in which eight people were k**led.
2019.04.16 Thailand Kapho 1 0 Muslim 'insurgents' shoot a 59-year-old man riding a motorcycle.
2019.04.15 Afghanistan Farah 4 0 A Taliban in police uniform shoots four cops in the back.
2019.04.15 Afghanistan Shirzad 4 7 The Taliban fire a mortar round into a house, k*****g four family members, including two women.
2019.04.14 Chad Bohama 7 15 An overnight Boko Haram attack leaves seven dead.
2019.04.14 Nigeria Numa 17 8 A pregnant woman and three children are among seventeen massacred by Fulani terrorists at a church baby dedication.
2019.04.13 Afghanistan Kunduz 6 50 A sustained assault by armed fundamentalists on a small town leaves six dead.
2019.04.13 Iraq Diyala 7 0 At least seven captives are executed by the Islamic State.
2019.04.13 Afghanistan Baghlan-e-Markazi 8 9 A fundamentalist group storms a security checkpoint and k**ls eight Afghans.
2019.04.13 Syria Shaafa 2 0 Two civilians are leveled by a suspected ISIS IED.
2019.04.12 Afghanistan Ghor 7 0 All seven passengers in a car are slaughtered by the Taliban.
2019.04.12 Kenya Mandera 1 2 Islamists kidnap two doctors after murdering their guard.
2019.04.12 Pakistan Quetta 24 48 A bomb targeting Hazera minorities at a vegetable market leaves two dozen dead.
2019.04.11 Syria Khan Arnabeh 3 1 Islamic terrorists k**l three civilians with an IED.
2019.04.11 Iraq Sadr City 3 0 Terrorists open fire from a car, bringing down three people outside a market.
2019.04.11 Iraq Mullah Abdullah 2 1 Two civilians are blown to bits by Mujahid bombers.
2019.04.11 Nigeria Monguno 2 1 Two female sucide bombers k**l two bystanders.
2019.04.10 Iraq al-Hadd 1 0 Terrorists leave a bomb outside an orange grove, k*****g a farmer.
2019.04.10 Nigeria Lake Chad 5 0 An ISIS-linked group claims five local soldiers were k**led in a car bombing.
2019.04.10 Iraq Kawaz Arabs 1 5 A child is put down by Islamic bombers.
2019.04.10 Niger Diffa 2 4 At least two others are k**led during a sustained suicide attack by Boko Haram.
2019.04.10 Egypt Arish 4 4 Four police are k**led in two separate bombings by religious radicals.
2019.04.10 Philippines Sumisip 3 0 Abu Sayyaf shoot three men off their motorcycles.
2019.04.10 Bangladesh Feni 1 0 The head of an Islamic school orders a female student burned alive for reporting him for sexual harassment.
2019.04.09 Syria Idlib 3 0 Fedayeen suicide bombers attack a local checkpoint, k*****g three members.
2019.04.09 Niger Tam 1 2 A village chief is brutally murdered by Sharia proponents.
2019.04.09 Egypt Sheikh Zuweid 7 26 A 6-year-old is among seven locals dispatched by a teen suicide bomber.
2019.04.09 India Kishtwar 2 0 A prominent Hindu leader and his guard are assassinated by Muslim radicals.
2019.04.09 Syria Raqqa 8 9 At least four civilians are among eight blown apart by a double bombing, one a suicide blast.
2019.04.09 Libya Fuqaha 3 1 Three civilians are murdered by the Islamic State.
2019.04.09 Afghanistan Kunar 1 2 Taliban roadside bombers pick off a civilian.
2019.04.08 Iraq Shirqat 2 0 An 11-year-old child is among two people put down by an ISIS round.
2019.04.08 Afghanistan Kunduz 1 0 A Taekwondo representative is sent to the mat by Jihadi gunmen.
2019.04.08 Afghanistan Jalalabad 2 5 Suspected Taliban bombers send two locals to Allah.
2019.04.08 Pakistan Ghazi Baig 1 0 A polio worker is gunned down by suspected fundamentalists.
2019.04.07 Syria Abu al-Hasan 3 1 ISIS shrapnel aerates a car, along with three occupants.
2019.04.07 Egypt Cairo 2 2 Armed extremists open fire on a police van, k*****g one officer and the driver.
2019.04.07 Cameroon Sagme 3 4 Boko Haram cross the border and k**l three members of a local security patrol.
2019.04.07 Afghanistan Jalalabad 3 20 A child and two women are exterminated by radical bombers.
2019.04.07 Nigeria Muna Dalti 3 45 Two female suicide bombers take out three innocents in a crowd.
2019.04.07 Syria Masyaf 5 16 Jihadists fire rockets into a city, k*****g five residents.
2019.04.07 Yemen Hodeidah 7 16 An Ansar Allah attack leaves seven dead.
2019.04.06 Afghanistan Sar-i-Pul 7 7 Seven police are k**led in two vicious attacks by the Taliban.
2019.04.06 India Sopore 1 0 An off-duty soldier on leave is shot point-blank by Muslim 'separatists'.
2019.04.06 Nigeria Anambra 6 30 Fulani terrorists attacks a farming community and k**l six farmers, some by beheading.
2019.04.05 Syria Ayyash 3 0 Sunni militants eliminate three civilians with an IED.
2019.04.05 Pakistan Khairpur 2 0 A husband and wife are honor-k**led by her family for marrying by choice.
2019.04.05 Thailand Yala 2 0 Runda Kumpulan Kecil Islamists shoot two border guards in the head as they are praying at a mosque.
2019.04.05 Philippines Simusa 2 0 Abu Sayyaf shoots a hostage, while another drowns trying to escape.
2019.04.04 Iraq Naqib 2 0 A farmer and his son are aerated by Mujahid shrapnel.
2019.04.04 Somalia Marka 2 0 Two traders are captured and executed in cold blood by al-Shabaab.
2019.04.04 Afghanistan Bala Murghab 30 20 At least 30 Afghan security personnal are k**led in a massive Taliban assault.
2019.04.04 Iraq Daquq 5 1 Islamic State gunmen open fire on local police, k*****g five.
2019.04.04 Afghanistan Pul-e-Khumri 1 23 One civilian is left dead after a bombing outside a hospital.
2019.04.04 Iraq Rutba 3 1 Three civilians collecting truffles are sent to Allah by Religion of Peace car bombers.
2019.04.03 Philippines Sultan Kudarat 0 18 Bansamoro Islamists are thought to be behind a restaurant bombing.
2019.04.03 Iraq Dujail 1 1 Mujahideen toss a grenade into a home, k*****g a man and injuring his wife.
2019.04.03 Somalia Jilib 1 0 A fisherman is picked off from shore by Islamist snipers.
2019.04.03 Pakistan Khairpur 2 0 A married man and his younger paramour are tortured and k**led over adultery.
2019.04.03 Burkina Faso Arbinda 32 0 Thirty-two villagers are reportedly k**led by terrorists in two attacks.
2019.04.03 Iraq Wajiya 1 0 A man is k**led in his own home by militant gunmen.
2019.04.02 Yemen Hadramout 2 3 al-Qaeda is suspected of a bombing that k**ls two members of a security patrol.
2019.04.02 Yemen Seiyun 4 2 A group of religious radicals bomb and shoot a passing security patrol, k*****g four.
2019.04.02 Yemen Taiz 2 0 Two are k**led when suspected Ansar Allah raid a police headquarters.
2019.04.02 Mali Gourma 1 0 A doctor is vaporized by a Jihadist IED.
2019.04.01 Nigeria Baga 5 0 Three civilians and two captured soldiers are forced to their knees and shot in the head by Boko Haram.
2019.04.01 Syria Baroud 1 0 Terrorists shoot a civilian to death.
2019.04.01 Afghanistan Sholgara 8 5 A vicious Taliban on a checkpost leaves eight local police dead.
2019.03.31 Somalia Kamsuma 4 0 Four civilians are stood up and mowed down by an al-Shabaab firing squad.
2019.03.31 Afghanistan Balkh-Jawzjan 1 2 Religious extremists attack a governor's convoy, k*****g a member.
2019.03.31 India Baramulla 1 0 A chemist is murdered in his shop by suspected Mujahideen.
2019.03.31 Iraq Muqdadiya 1 2 Terrorists k**l a civilian and injure a father and daughter.
2019.03.30 Burkina Faso Yendere 3 0 Three civilians are murdered by Jihadists.
2019.03.30 Iraq Yathrib 2 1 An ISIS attack leaves two dead.
2019.03.30 Iraq Hammam al-Alil 2 0 Two fishermen are shot to death by the Islamic State.
2019.03.30 Afghanistan Andar 4 17 A 'projectile' hits a school during a Taliban attack, k*****g four young students.
2019.03.30 Thailand Songkhla 2 0 A latex trader and clerk are shot to death in their truck by Muslim militants.
2019.03.30 Somalia Dharkenley 1 0 Islamists fit a bomb onto a civilian car, sending the driver into the hereafter.
2019.03.29 Pakistan Boya 1 1 A civilian is sectionalized by a terrorist landmine.
2019.03.29 Afghanistan Siory 9 6 Nine local police lose their lives when armed religious extremists attack their checkpoint.
2019.03.28 Afghanistan Shinkay 5 0 Five local cops are massacred by the Taliban.
2019.03.28 Afghanistan Laghman 2 0 A child is among two k**led when fundamentalists manage to hit their house with a mortar.
2019.03.28 Somalia Mogadishu 15 17 Over a dozen patrons are cut down in mid-bite by a car bombing outside a restaurant.
2019.03.28 Nigeria Gatamarwa 1 0 One resident is k**led when Islamic extremists burn down a village.
2019.03.28 Burkina Faso Barani 4 0 Suspected Jihadists k**l four policemen and burn their vehicle.
2019.03.27 India Jamia Masjid 1 0 A 24-year-old man is murdered by Muslim militants.
2019.03.27 Nigeria Miringa 2 0 A motorist is among two people k**led during a Boko Haram attack.
2019.03.27 Syria Tell Jabin 9 3 An ISIS booby-trap claims nine civilians.
2019.03.27 Pakistan Lakki Marwat 2 4 A woman is among two k**led when terrorists open fire on a group from the education department.
2019.03.26 Somalia Hodan 1 1 Suspected al-Shabaab plant a bomb under a luxury car, k*****g the driver.
2019.03.26 Niger N'Guigmi 10 8 Two female suicide bombers coordinate with gunmen to massacre ten villagers.
2019.03.26 Afghanistan Shireen Tagab 1 6 Terrorists sent a mortar round into a home, k*****g a woman.
2019.03.25 Libya Ghadwa 1 3 A civilian is kidnapped and murdered by the Islamic State.
2019.03.25 Israel Mishmeret 0 7 Children are among the casualties when Hamas sends a rocket into a home.
2019.03.25 Somalia Mogadishu 1 3 Muslim militants k**l a university professor by fitting his car with an IED.
2019.03.25 Syria Manbij 7 0 Seven guards are k**led by ISIS at the entrance to a city.
2019.03.24 Afghanistan Jalalabad 0 7 A bomb outside a clinic sends shrapnel into women and children.
2019.03.24 Pakistan Chichawatni 1 0 A man honor-strangles his 20-year-old sister for 'having relations'.
2019.03.24 Pakistan Lahore 1 1 A woman is chopped up with an axe for marrying without her family's permission.
2019.03.24 Syria Sheikh al-Nasser 2 0 ISIS shrapnel claims two civilians.
2019.03.24 Afghanistan Sangin 65 38 Armed fundamentalists overrun two local security bases and murder dozens.
2019.03.23 Niger Diffa 7 2 Boko Haram burn down three villages, k**l seven and abduct two women.
2019.03.23 Afghanistan Lashkar Gah 4 31 Bombs placed by religious radicals in tents at a Farmer's Day ceremony k**l four.
2019.03.23 Somalia Mogadishu 11 15 Sharia proponents send a suicide bomber into a government building, k*****g about a dozen.
2019.03.23 Nigeria Mante 1 2 Muslim militants attack three Christian teen sisters, raping and k*****g the oldest.
2019.03.22 Niger Dewa Kargueri 8 20 Eight villagers are butchered with knives by Boko Haram.
2019.03.22 Sudan Nyala 1 2 Arab m*****a shoot local man to death.
2019.03.22 Kenya Elwak 5 0 al-Shabaab stage a cross-border ambush that k**ls five Kenyan border guards.
2019.03.22 Pakistan Karachi 3 0 A cleric and two guards are shot to death by sectarian rivals.
2019.03.22 Chad Dangdala 23 0 A Boko Haram attack on a Chadian soldiers leaves two dozen dead.
2019.03.22 Afghanistan Chinar 1 4 A suicide bomber strikes a family on their way to a party, k*****g one member.
2019.03.22 Syria Deir Ezzor 5 0 Five members of a family hunting mushrooms are executed in cold blood by ISIS.
2019.03.22 India Hajin 1 1 A 12-year-old boy is kidnapped and shot to death by Lashkar-e-Taiba.
For information about our methodology, see About the List.=====