April 20, 2025

CGI Jaffna

Jaffna News Portal Sri Lanka

Attacks in Sri Lanka. Catholic churches closed “until further notice”

Relatives carry the coffin of a bomb blast victim for a burial ceremony at a cemetery in Colombo, Sir Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, churches will remain closed “until further notice” after suicide bombings in churches and hotels on Easter Sunday that left 359 dead.

All the Catholic churches in Sri Lanka will remain closed and no Mass will be celebrated until the “improvement of the security situation” after the Passover bombing s , who made 359 dead, said a senior official of the local Church .

“On the advice of the security forces, we are keeping all churches closed,” the source said, adding that “there will be no public mass until further notice . “ Funerals of victims may be held during private ceremonies.

Suicide bombers hit three Christian churches in the middle of Easter Mass on Sunday, causing carnage.

The South Asian country has since tightened security around churches, according to government officials. The Christian minority represents 7% of the country’s population, with a Buddhist majority (70%).

75 people arrested

Colombo is engaged in a gigantic hunt for suspects linked to these suicide attacks, attributed by the authorities to the local group National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) and which the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS) claimed, posting a video of eight men pledging his allegiance to him .

Nearly 75 people have been arrested at this stage of the investigation into these attacks, which are among the deadliest in the world since September 11, 2001.

1,000 additional soldiers deployed

The army announced this Thursday, April 25, the deployment of thousands of additional soldiers to support the police in this manhunt . The army increased the number of its soldiers involved in the device from 1,300 to 6,300. The air force and the navy dispatched 2,000 men.

“We are armed with the power to search, confiscate, arrest and detain under state of emergency legislation ,  ” in place since midnight Monday, Brigadier General Sumith Atapattu said.

“We participate in static guards, patrols and help establish lines and search operations,” he added.