The Latest: New Zealand says it has not seen Sri Lanka link

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The Latest on the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka (all times local):

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she hasn't received any official advice from Sri Lanka or seen any intelligence reports to corroborate claims from Sri Lanka's government that the Easter attacks were in retaliation for the mosque massacres in Christchurch last month.

Ardern told reporters in Auckland that Sri Lanka is in the early stages of its investigation, and that New Zealand plans to stand back and allow it to proceed. She said she hadn't been in direct contact with Sri Lanka, although officials from the two countries were in contact.

Sri Lanka's State Minister of Defense Ruwan Wijewardene said earlier the government had evidence the bombings were carried out by an Islamic fundamentalist group in retaliation for the March 15 mosque shootings in Christchurch that killed 50 people.

The U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka 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 President Trump.

The embassy in Colombo declined to immediately elaborate.

Police say the death toll in the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka has risen to 359 and more suspects have been arrested.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara also said Wednesday morning that 18 suspects were arrested overnight, raising the total detained to 58.

The prime minister warned on Tuesday that several suspects armed with explosives were still at large.

Another top government official said the suicide bombings at the churches, hotels and other sites were carried out by Islamic fundamentalists in apparent retaliation for the New Zealand mosque massacre last month.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Sri Lanka attacks and released images that purported to show the attackers. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that investigators were still determining the extent of the bombers' foreign links.</s>COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — More than 200 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in eight bomb blasts that rocked churches and luxury hotels in or near Sri Lanka’s capital on Easter Sunday — the deadliest violence the South Asian island country has seen since a bloody civil war ended a decade ago.

Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardena described the bombings as a terrorist attack by religious extremists, and police said 13 suspects were arrested, though there was no immediate claim of responsibility. Wijewardena said most of the blasts were believed to have been suicide attacks.

The explosions at three churches and three hotels collapsed ceilings and blew out windows, killing worshippers and hotel guests. People were seen carrying victims out of blood-spattered pews. Witnesses described powerful blasts, followed by scenes of smoke, blood, broken glass, alarms going off and victims screaming.

“People were being dragged out,” said Bhanuka Harischandra, of Colombo, a 24-year-old founder of a tech marketing company who was going to the city’s Shangri-La Hotel for a meeting when it was bombed. “People didn’t know what was going on. It was panic mode.”

Most of those killed were Sri Lankans. But the three hotels and one of the churches, St. Anthony’s Shrine, are frequented by foreign tourists, and Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said the bodies of at least 27 foreigners from a variety of countries were recovered. The U.S. said “several” American were among the dead, while Britain and China said they, too, lost citizens.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he feared the massacre could trigger instability in Sri Lanka, a country of about 21 million people, and vowed to “vest all necessary powers with the defense forces” to take action against those responsible.

The government imposed a nationwide curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and blocked Facebook and other social media, saying it needed to curtail the spread of false information and ease tension.

The Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, called on Sri Lanka’s government to “mercilessly” punish those responsible “because only animals can behave like that.”

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said at least 207 people were killed and 450 wounded. He said police found a safe house and a van used by the attackers.

The scale of the bloodshed recalled the worst days of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war, in which the Tamil Tigers, a rebel group from the ethnic Tamil minority, sought independence from the Buddhist-majority country. During the war, the Tigers and other rebels carried out a multitude of bombings. The Tamils are Hindu, Muslim and Christian.

Sri Lanka, situated off the southern tip of India, is about 70 percent Buddhist, with the rest of the population Muslim, Hindu or Christian. While there have been scattered incidents of anti-Christian harassment in recent years, there has been nothing on the scale of what happened Sunday.

There is also no history of violent Muslim militants in Sri Lanka. However, tensions have been running high more recently between hard-line Buddhist monks and Muslims.

Two Muslim groups in Sri Lanka condemned the church attacks, as did countries around the world, and Pope Francis expressed condolences at the end of his traditional Easter Sunday blessing in Rome.

“I want to express my loving closeness to the Christian community, targeted while they were gathered in prayer, and all the victims of such cruel violence,” Francis said.

Six nearly simultaneous blasts took place in the morning in Colombo at St. Anthony’s Shrine — a Catholic church — and the Cinnamon Grand, Shangri-La and Kingsbury hotels. After a lull of a few hours, two more explosions occurred at St. Sebastian Catholic church in Negombo, a mostly Catholic town north of Colombo, and at the Protestant Zion church in the eastern town of Batticaloa.

Three police officers were killed while conducting a search at a suspected safe house in Dematagoda, on the outskirts of Colombo, when its occupants apparently detonated explosives to prevent arrest, Wijewardena said.

Local TV showed the Shangri-La’s second-floor restaurant was gutted, with the ceiling and windows blown out. Loose wires hung and tables were overturned in the blackened space. From outside the police cordon, three bodies could be seen covered in white sheets.

Foreign tourists hurriedly took to their cellphones to text family and loved ones around the world that they were OK.

One group was on a 15-day tour of the tropical island country, seeing such sites as Buddhist monuments, tea plantations, jungle eco-lodges and sandy beaches. The tour started last week in Negombo, where one of the blasts took place, and was supposed to end in Colombo, but that may be dropped from the itinerary.

“Having experienced the open and welcoming Sri Lanka during my last week traveling through the country, I had a sense that the country was turning the corner, and in particular those in the tourism industry were hopeful for the future,” said Peter Kelson, a technology manager from Sydney.

“Apart from the tragedy of the immediate victims of the bombings, I worry that these terrible events will set the country back significantly,” he said.

Tour group leader Suminda Dodangoda was exasperated at the political problems still convulsing his country.

“We are still at war” more than three decades later, he told the tourists.

Sri Lankan forces defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, ending a civil war that took over 100,000 lives, with both sides accused of grave human rights violations.

Harischandra, who witnessed the attack at the Shangri-La Hotel, said there was “a lot of tension” after the bombings, but added: “We’ve been through these kinds of situations before.”

He said Sri Lankans are “an amazing bunch” and noted that his social media feed was flooded with photos of people standing in long lines to give blood.

Associated Press writers Sheila Norman-Culp and Gregory Katz in London; Sarah DiLorenzo in New York; Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow; Nicole Winfield at the Vatican; Adam Schreck in Bangkok; and Emily Schmall in New Delhi contributed to this report.</s>COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - The Latest on explosions in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday (all times local):

The United Nations secretary-general is expressing condolences over the Sri Lankan bombings on Easter Sunday.

The statement issued by spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was outraged by the terrorist attacks on churches and hotels on a “sacred day for Christians around the world” and hoped the perpetrators will be swiftly brought to justice.

He said Sri Lanka had the support and solidarity of the United Nations in its difficult moment.

The bombings killed 290 people and were Sri Lanka’s deadliest violence since a devastating civil war ended a decade ago.

Police say the death toll from the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka has increased to 290.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara also said Monday more than 500 people had been wounded.

The nine bombings of churches, luxury hotels and other sites was Sri Lanka’s deadliest violence since a devastating civil war ended a decade ago.

Indian officials say five Indians were killed in Sunday’s Sri Lanka bombings.

The external affairs minister and the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka identified the five victims in a series of tweets.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke to Sri Lankan leaders and condemned the blasts. Modi tweeted, “There is no place for such barbarism in our region. India stands in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka.”

Sri Lankan authorities have said at least 27 of the more than 200 dead were foreigners. The United States said several were Americans but didn’t give a figure. Japan has confirmed one dead. Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry says one Portuguese, two Turkish nationals, three British nationals and two holding U.S. and British nationalities were among the dead.

Sri Lankan authorities have lifted a curfew that was in place overnight following Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 200 people.

The streets in the capital, Colombo, were largely deserted Monday morning, with most shops closed and a heavy deployment of soldiers and police. Stunned clergy and onlookers gathered at St. Anthony’s Shrine, looking past the soldiers to the damaged church that was targeted in one of the blasts.

The nine bombings of churches, luxury hotels and other sites was Sri Lanka’s deadliest violence since a devastating civil war ended a decade ago. Police the death toll, which was 207 late Sunday, had risen overnight but the figure wasn’t immediately released.

Police in Sri Lanka say the investigation into the Easter Sunday bombings will examine reports that the intelligence community failed to detect or warn of possible suicide attacks before the violence.

The nine bombings of churches, luxury hotels and other sites was Sri Lanka’s deadliest violence since a devastating civil war in the South Asian island nation ended a decade ago. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said Monday the death toll, which was 207 late Sunday, had risen overnight but the figure wasn’t immediately released.

Two government ministers have alluded to intelligence failures. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said Monday that the Criminal Investigation Department investigating the blasts will look into the reports.

Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardena previously described the blasts as a terrorist attack by religious extremists.</s>COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s state minister of defense said Tuesday that the Easter attack on churches, hotels and other sites in the South Asian nation was “carried out in retaliation” for the shooting massacre at two New Zealand mosques last month.

The minister, Ruwan Wijewardene, told Parliament the government possessed information that the series of bombings in and outside of Colombo that killed more than 300 people were carried out “by an Islamic fundamentalist group” in response to the Christchurch attacks. He did not provide evidence of explain the source of the information.

Wijewardene blamed “weakness” within Sri Lanka’s security apparatus for failing to prevent the nine bombings at churches, luxury hotels and other sites.

“By now it has been established that the intelligence units were aware of this attack and a group of responsible people were informed about the impending attack,” he said. “However, this information has been circulated among only a few officials.”

As Sri Lanka’s leaders wrangled the aftermath of an apparent homegrown militant attack and massive intelligence failure, security was heightened Tuesday for a national day of mourning and the military was employing powers to make arrests it last used when the devastating civil war ended in 2009.

The six near-simultaneous attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels and three related blasts later Sunday were the South Asian island nation’s deadliest violence in a decade. Wijewardene said the death toll from the attack now stood at 321 people, with 500 wounded.

Word from international intelligence agencies that a local group was planning attacks apparently didn’t reach the prime minister’s office until after the massacre, exposing the continuing political turmoil in the highest levels of the Sri Lankan government.

On April 11, Priyalal Disanayaka, Sri Lanka’s deputy inspector general of police, signed a letter addressed to the directors of four Sri Lankan security agencies, warning them that a local group was planning a suicide attack in the country.

The intelligence report attached to his letter, which has circulated widely on social media, named the group allegedly plotting the attack, National Towheed Jamaar, said it was led by Zahran Hashmi, and was targeting “some important churches” in a suicide terrorist attack that was planned to take place “shortly.” The report named six individuals likely to be involved in the plot.

On Monday, Sri Lanka’s health minister held up a copy of the intelligence report while describing its contents, spurring questions about what Sri Lanka police had done to protect the public from an attack.

It was not immediately clear what steps were taken by any of these security directors. Disanayaka did not answer calls or messages seeking comment.

Among the 40 people arrested on suspicion of links to the bombings were the driver of a van allegedly used by the suicide bombers and the owner of a house where some of them lived.

Heightened security was evident an international airport outside the capital where security personnel walked explosive-sniffing dogs and checked car trunks and questioned drivers on roads nearby. Police also ordered that anyone leaving a parked car unattended on the street must put a note with their phone number on the windscreen, and post officers were not accepting pre-wrapped parcels.

A block on most social media since the attacks has left a vacuum of information, fueling confusion and giving little reassurance the danger had passed. Even after an overnight curfew was lifted, the streets of central Colombo were mostly deserted Tuesday and shops closed as armed soldiers stood guard.

Sri Lankan authorities also Tuesday planned to brief foreign diplomats and receive assistance from the FBI and other foreign intelligence-gathering agencies.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he feared the massacre could unleash instability and he vowed to “vest all necessary powers with the defense forces” to act against those responsible.

Authorities said they knew where the group trained and had safe houses, but did not identify any of the seven suicide bombers, whose bodies were recovered, or the other suspects taken into custody. All seven bombers were Sri Lankans, but authorities said they strongly suspected foreign links.

Also unclear was a motive. The history of Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka, a country of 21 million including large Hindu, Muslim and Christian minorities, is rife with ethnic and sectarian conflict.

In the 26-year civil war, the Tamil Tigers, a powerful rebel army known for using suicide bombers, was finally crushed by the government in 2009 but had little history of targeting Christians. Anti-Muslim bigotry fed by Buddhist nationalists has swept the country recently, but there is no history of Islamic militancy. Its small Christian community has seen only scattered incidents of harassment.

Associated Press writers Bharatha Mallawarachi, Jon Gambrell, Rishabh Jain and Gemunu Amarasinghe contributed to this report.</s>The Islamic State has claimed that it was behind the horrific suicide bombings of churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka over the Easter weekend.

The terrorist group made the claim through its official Amaq news agency on Tuesday.

It comes after Sri Lankan intelligence named radical local cleric Moulvi Zahran Hashim as the chief mastermind of the Easter Sunday attacks. He reportedly used his social media channels in the past to incite hatred against non-Muslims.

Senior government officials had blamed the little known radical Islamist group, the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), which gained prominence last year after being accused of damaging Buddhist statues.

Government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne previously said that whoever carried out the attacks must have been helped by an international network.

"We do not believe these attacks were carried out by a group of people who were confined to this country," he said.

"There was an international network without which these attacks could not have succeeded."

The devastating attacks were carried out on two Catholic churches and one evangelical church that were packed with worshippers celebrating Easter Sunday.

Four luxury hotels were also targeted in the attacks that claimed the lives of 321 people, including eight British citizens.

Defence minister Ruwan Wijewardene told lawmakers in parliament on Tuesday that he believed the bombings were in retaliation for the recent attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Fifty people were killed when a gunman opened fire in the mosques on March 15.

"The preliminary investigations have revealed that what happened in Sri Lanka was in retaliation for the attack against Muslims in Christchurch, but we are continuing investigations," Wijewardene said.</s>Sri Lanka’s minister of tourism says 39 foreign tourists were killed in the Easter Sunday attacks

Sri Lankan air force officers and clergy stand outside St. Anthony’s Shrine, a day after a blast in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, April 22, 2019. Easter Sunday bombings of churches, luxury hotels and other sites was Sri Lanka’s deadliest violence since a devastating civil war in the South Asian island nation ended a decade ago. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Sri Lanka’s president has given the military sweeping war-time powers to arrest and detain suspects following a series of Easter Sunday bombings that killed at least 290 people.

President Maithripala Sirisena’s office announced late Monday that the measure would take effect at midnight. In addition, a government curfew was to begin at 8 p.m.

On Monday, armed security personnel stood guard on street corners in central Colombo that were largely deserted, with most shops closed.

Provisions that granted police powers to the military had been withdrawn at the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, which ended in 2009.

Sri Lanka’s minister of tourism says 39 foreign tourists were killed in the Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels, while another 28 were wounded.

John Amaratunga says his ministry is working closely with the ministry of foreign affairs and local diplomatic missions to “ensure formalities with regard to the victims are sorted out as quickly as possible.”

In Monday’s statement he added, “The government has already offered assistance to all victims, the damaged places of worship as well as the hotels affected by Sunday’s attacks.”

He said Sri Lanka’s tourism industry and the government was doing everything possible to ensure the safety of those in the country.

A total of nine bombings Sunday killed at least 290 people and wounded about 500 more.

Pope Francis is asking everyone to join him in condemning the “inhuman” Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka.

Greeting faithful in St. Peter’s Square on Monday, Francis also invited prayers for the victims of the attacks, including at least 290 dead and some 500 wounded.

The pope said, “I hope everyone condemns these inhuman and never justified terrorist acts.”

Expressing his fraternal closeness to the people of Sri Lanka, Francis encouraged people not to hesitate to offer all necessary assistance in the wake of the nine bombings, which devastated three churches during Easter services and three hotels filled with tourists.

A day earlier, after celebrating Easter Mass in the square, Francis had expressed his sorrow and dismay over the attacks.

A van parked near a Sri Lankan church that was bombed on Easter Sunday has exploded, but no injuries have been reported.

Police went to inspect the van Monday after people reported it had been parked near St. Anthony’s Shrine since Sunday.

They discovered three bombs that they tried to defuse. Instead, the bombs detonated, sending pedestrians fleeing in panic.

A series of bombings Sunday killed at least 290 people, including at least 27 foreigners. About 500 others were wounded in the blasts.

Officials said 24 suspects are in custody for questioning

Sri Lankan authorities say they’ve found 87 bomb detonators in the capital, Colombo.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekaran said police found 12 detonators scattered at Colombo’s main bus depot on Monday and hours later found another 75 detonators at a garbage dump in the same area.

No arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing.

Gunasekara declined to say whether the detonators were linked to a series of bombs that rocked churches, hotels and other sites on Sunday, killing at least 290 people.

Danish media are saying that three of the four children of a Danish business tycoon who is allegedly the Nordic country’s richest man and a major private landowner in Britain died in the Sri Lanka bombings.

Danish broadcaster TV2 Monday cited information it received from the Bestseller clothing chain, of which Anders Holch Povlsen is the sole owner. The company didn’t provide any further information “out of respect to the family.”

Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet said the 46-year-old Holch Povlsen and his wife, Anne Holch Povlsen, were vacationing in Sri Lanka with their children.

Holch Povlsen is Britain’s second-largest and Scotland’s-largest private landowner and the biggest shareholder in fashion retailer ASOS.com.

The Danish foreign ministry confirmed that three Danish citizens were killed in the Sri Lankan attacks, which claimed over 200 lives.

Sri Lanka’s top diplomat in Britain says authorities know of eight British nationals killed in the Easter Sunday bomb attacks on churches and hotels in and around Colombo.

High Commissioner to the UK Manisha Gunasekera told BBC Monday that “as of now” it is believed eight British nationals died. She said the investigation is moving “very swiftly.”

British officials have said only that some Britons died. They have not provided information on the number of British casualties. More details are expected to emerge later Monday.

A Sri Lankan government official says a local militant group named National Thowfeek Jamaath is responsible for the Easter Sunday suicide bombings.

Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said at a news conference Monday that all seven bombers linked to the near-simultaneous attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels in and around Colombo were Sri Lankan citizens.

Officials say the causes of three later bombings on Sunday are still being investigated.

He said that while the group is domestic, foreign links are suspected.

A total of nine bombings Sunday killed at least 290 people including at least 27 foreigners. About 500 others were wounded in the blasts.

Officials said 24 suspects are in custody for questioning.

Australia’s prime minister says two Australian citizens died and another two were injured in the Sri Lankan bomb blasts.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the two Australians killed were from the same family and lived in Sri Lanka. One was a dual citizen.

Morrison says two other dual citizens were injured but are in stable conditions. He says one is being treated for shrapnel wounds and the other has a broken leg.

Australia has advised its citizens to reconsider their need to travel to Sri Lanka, the second highest security alert.

Most of the 290 dead were Sri Lankan but the government has confirmed at least 27 foreigners among the dead. The United States, India, Britain, China, Japan and Portugal have confirmed their nationals were among the dead.

A Sri Lankan government forensic crime analyst tells The Associated Press that the six near-simultaneous attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels in and around Colombo on Easter Sunday were carried out by seven suicide bombers.

The government analyst Ariyananda Welianga says an analysis of the attackers’ body parts collected from the scenes shows that the attacks were suicide bombings.

Welianga says two people were involved in the attack at the Shangri-La hotel. One bomber each attacked the Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury hotels and St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo, St. Sebastian’s church in the city of Negombo and Zion Church in the city of Batticaloa.

Two bombings hours later at a guesthouse and near an overpass on the outskirts of Colombo are still under investigation. Suspects detonated explosives at a safe house near the overpass blast, killing three officers.

All told, more than 200 people were killed and 500 wounded in the nine attacks.

A second Chinese citizen has been confirmed killed in the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka.

Xinhua news agency cited the Chinese Embassy in Colombo as confirming the fatality. The report said the number of injuries among Chinese was still being confirmed. The United States, Britain, India and other countries have also confirmed their citizens were among the 290 dead.

China has extensive business ties with Sri Lanka and is sending growing numbers of business people, tourists and workers to the island.

Both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have sent condolences and said they firmly support the Sri Lankan government’s effort to maintain security and stability, according to Xinhua.

A Sri Lanka military spokesman says that an explosive device was found and defused late Easter Sunday on an access road to the international airport near Colombo.

The discovery came after nine bomb attacks shook Colombo and its outskirts, targeting churches where worshippers were celebrating Easter, luxury hotels frequented by tourists and other sites.

Air Force Group Captain Gihan Seneviratne said Monday that authorities found a “homemade” pipe bomb filled with 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of explosives Sunday night in Andiambalama, near the airport.

It’s not clear what kind of detonation method or target was planned, but Seneviratne said the bomb was large enough to have caused damage to a 400-meter (400-yard) radius.

Sunday’s bombings killed 290 people and wounded about 500 more.

The United Nations secretary-general is expressing condolences over the Sri Lankan bombings on Easter Sunday.

The statement issued by spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was outraged by the terrorist attacks on churches and hotels on a “sacred day for Christians around the world” and hoped the perpetrators will be swiftly brought to justice.

He said Sri Lanka had the support and solidarity of the United Nations in its difficult moment.

The bombings killed 290 people and were Sri Lanka’s deadliest violence since a devastating civil war ended a decade ago.

Police say the death toll from the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka has increased to 290.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara also said Monday more than 500 people had been wounded.

The nine bombings of churches, luxury hotels and other sites was Sri Lanka’s deadliest violence since a devastating civil war ended a decade ago.

Indian officials say five Indians were killed in Sunday’s Sri Lanka bombings.

The external affairs minister and the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka identified the five victims in a series of tweets.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke to Sri Lankan leaders and condemned the blasts. Modi tweeted, “There is no place for such barbarism in our region. India stands in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka.”

Sri Lankan authorities have said at least 27 of the more than 200 dead were foreigners. The United States said several were Americans but didn’t give a figure. Japan has confirmed one dead. Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry says one Portuguese, two Turkish nationals, three British nationals and two holding U.S. and British nationalities were among the dead.

Sri Lankan authorities have lifted a curfew that was in place overnight following Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 200 people.

The streets in the capital, Colombo, were largely deserted Monday morning, with most shops closed and a heavy deployment of soldiers and police. Stunned clergy and onlookers gathered at St. Anthony’s Shrine, looking past the soldiers to the damaged church that was targeted in one of the blasts.

The nine bombings of churches, luxury hotels and other sites was Sri Lanka’s deadliest violence since a devastating civil war ended a decade ago. Police the death toll, which was 207 late Sunday, had risen overnight but the figure wasn’t immediately released.

Police in Sri Lanka say the investigation into the Easter Sunday bombings will examine reports that the intelligence community failed to detect or warn of possible suicide attacks before the violence.

The nine bombings of churches, luxury hotels and other sites was Sri Lanka’s deadliest violence since a devastating civil war in the South Asian island nation ended a decade ago. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said Monday the death toll, which was 207 late Sunday, had risen overnight but the figure wasn’t immediately released.

Two government ministers have alluded to intelligence failures. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said Monday that the Criminal Investigation Department investigating the blasts will look into the reports.

Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardena previously described the blasts as a terrorist attack by religious extremists.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>On Sunday 21 April a series of coordinated bombings took place in Sri Lanka. The explosions targeted Christians at Easter Sunday church services in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa, and tourists staying in luxury hotels in the capital. With the death toll at 290 and more than 500 injured, no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks but Sri Lankan officials have said religious extremists are to blame.

Six of the eight bombings took place in Sri Lanka’s capital. At 8.45am the city was rocked by simultaneous explosions at a large Catholic church, St Anthony’s Shrine, and the Shangri-La and Kingsbury hotels. Five minutes later another hotel, the Cinnamon Grand, was also hit.

Police have not said which site was worst hit. However, it is thought that at least 160 people were injured in the congregation of St Anthony’s Shrine. The Shangri-La hotel has 541 rooms and suites, as well as six restaurants and bars. The Kingsbury has 229 rooms and suites, and the Cinnamon Grand has 501 rooms.



Officers began to carry out raids across the city. At 1.45pm there was another explosion in the suburb of Dehiwala, at a guesthouse close to the national zoo. At 2.15pm a further blast occurred in a housing scheme in Dematagoda. These last two bombs appear to have been carried out by the attackers as they fled from police.

At 8.45am, as the first explosions went off in Colombo, a bomb ripped through St Sebastian’s Catholic church in Negombo, a seaside town to the north of the capital. An Easter Sunday service was taking place and it is thought that at least 50 members of the congregation were killed, though no official breakdown of the death toll has been released.

On the east coast of the island at 9.05am, the Zion evangelical church in Batticaloa was also attacked during its Easter service. The main hospital in the city received more than 300 people with injuries in the hours following the blast.</s>US Embassy says FBI agents on the ground in Sri Lanka assisting investigation in Easter bombing attack

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — US Embassy says FBI agents on the ground in Sri Lanka assisting investigation in Easter bombing attack.</s>A Denver-area man missing in the Sri Lanka Easter Sunday terror attacks targeting Christians and luxury hotel guests was confirmed dead by his brother on Monday, according to a report.

40-year-old Dieter Kowalski traveled to Sri Lanka early Sunday morning for work, checking into the Cinnamon Grand Colombo hotel at 3:45 a.m. local time. The hotel was bombed roughly five hours later in one of eight blasts targeting churches and other hotels that killed around 300 people and injured hundreds more.

“It is with great sadness and deep regret that as Dieter’s brother that I confirm that Dieter was among the victims that passed away in Sri Lanka,” Dieter’s brother wrote, according to the Daily Mail. “As we know that Dieter saw his friends as family, we would like to share our grief over this tragic incident. More information to follow. We have all lost a brother today… RIP Dieter.”

Kowalski reportedly worked for a technology company. Further details about the Denver man are presently unknown.

Two Americans with dual citizenship of the US and UK were among 11 foreign nationals killed, Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry confirmed.

One of Cinnamon Grand hotel’s manager told reporters that the suicide bomber set off a bomb around 8:30 a.m. local time after standing in line at the hotel’s breakfast buffet. The manager said the bomber checked into the hotel the night before as Mohamed Azzam Mohamed.

“There was utter chaos. It was 8.30am and it was busy. It was families,” he said. “He came up to the top of the queue and set off the blast. One of our managers who was welcoming guests was among those killed instantly.”

Sri Lanka Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said Monday that a local Islamist terrorist group called “National Thowfeek Jamaath” is responsible for the deadly bombings.</s>A series of bombings at churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka that killed more than 320 people on Easter Sunday were conducted "in retaliation" for mass shootings at two mosques in New Zealand last month, a senior government official said.

"The preliminary investigations have revealed that what happened in Sri Lanka was in retaliation for the attack against Muslims in Christchurch," Ruwan Wijewardene, Sri Lanka's defense minister, told the country's parliament, according to the Independent.

He said the death toll now stands at 321 dead and 500 injured.

Fifty people were killed and dozens wounded in the attack in Christchurch on March 15 during Friday prayers. A 28-year-old Australian man, Brenton Tarrant - a self-described white supremacist - has been charged over the shootings.

Seven members of the radical Muslim group National Thowfeek Jamaath - a domestic militant group that might have international ties - were behind the Sri Lanka attacks, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said Monday.

At least four Americans are among the dead, the U.S. State Department said. The department gave no details about the identities of the victims, citing privacy concerns, and said it provided support to Americans affected by the blasts.

Sri Lankan authorities on Tuesday planned to brief foreign diplomats and receive assistance from the FBI and other foreign intelligence-gathering agencies after officials disclosed Monday that warnings had been received weeks ago of the possibility of an attack by the radical Muslim group blamed for the bloodshed.

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International intelligence agencies began warning the country's officials April 4, and on April 9, the Defense Ministry included the group's name in a warning to the police chief, Senaratne said.

Seranatne said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his Cabinet were unaware of the intelligence until after the attacks because of political dysfunction. Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena have been feuding.

More: Sri Lanka bombings: What we know

Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando told the BBC that the intelligence "never indicated it was going to be an attack of this magnitude.''

"They were talking about isolated, one or two incidents. Not like this," he said.

President Sirisena said late Monday that he gave the military wartime powers to arrest suspects. The military has not had such sweeping power since the country's civil war, which ended in 2009. A curfew was to begin at 8 p.m.

The government blocked access to online sites Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram after the blasts, adding to the confusion and sense of chaos in parts of the country as residents and visitors sought assurance that the danger had passed. A nationwide state of emergency was scheduled to begin at midnight Monday.

The bombers were all Sri Lankan, authorities said, but international influence is suspected.

"We do not believe these attacks were carried out by a group of people who were confined to this country,” Senaratne said, according to Reuters. “There was an international network without which these attacks could not have succeeded."

Police said 40 suspects had been arrested as of early Tuesday, including the driver of a van allegedly used by suicide bombers.

A total of nine bombings took place Sunday in the deadliest instance of violence in Sri Lanka since the civil war ended.

President Donald Trump called Wickremesinghe on Monday morning to express his condolences, White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley said. "The near simultaneous attacks on Sri Lankan churches and hotels constitute one of the deadliest terrorist events since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States," Gidley said.

The FBI said it's providing assistance in the investigation.

Officials found 87 bomb detonators in Colombo, the country's capital. Twelve detonators were at the main bus depot and 75 in a garbage dump.

A van parked near St. Anthony’s Church in Colombo, which was hit in the bombings Sunday, exploded Monday. Police tried to defuse three bombs in it but detonated the vehicle instead. There were no injuries.

A forensic crime analyst told The Associated Press that an analysis of the attackers’ body parts collected from the scenes showed that the attacks were suicide bombings.

Two people were involved in the attack at the Shangri-La hotel. One bomber each attacked the Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury hotels and St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo, St. Sebastian’s church in the city of Negombo and Zion Church in the city of Batticaloa.

Hours later, two bombings took place at a guesthouse and near an overpass on the outskirts of Colombo. Suspects detonated explosives at a safe house on the outskirts of Colombo, killing three police officers.

Most of the dead were Sri Lankan, many of them members of the Christian minority. At least 30 foreign tourists were killed in the attacks.

The first American identified among the victims was Dieter Kowalski, 40, a Wisconsin native living in Colorado. His employer, education company Pearson, confirmed Kowalski's death Monday. CEO John Fallon said in a message on LinkedIn that Kowalski had just arrived at his hotel when he was killed in the explosion.

Officials at Sidwell Friends, a Washington-area private school where former President Barack Obama's daughter Sasha is a senior, confirmed the death of one of its students in an email to parents. The Washington Post reported the fifth-grade boy, Kieran Shafritz de Zoysa, had been on leave for the past year in Sri Lanka.

The Bestseller clothing chain confirmed Danish media reports that three of the children of its owner, business tycoon Anders Holch Povlsen, were killed in the attacks. Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet said Holch Povlsen, 46, and his wife, Anne, were vacationing in Sri Lanka with their children.

Victims from the United Kingdom, India, Australia, China, Japan, Spain and Portugal were confirmed.

The U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory warning Americans to "exercise increased caution" because of terrorism concerns.

The U.N. Security Council, the organization's most powerful body, condemned the bombings as “heinous and cowardly terrorist attacks” and called for the perpetrators to be held accountable.
ISIL claims responsibility for the bombings in Sri Lanka that took place on Easter Sunday.