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Sri Lanka bombings

Sri Lanka bombings

A string of bomb blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019, killing at least 310 people.

Sri Lanka’s former police chief Pujith Jayasundara. File photo: AP

Sri Lanka ex-police chief sentenced to death over 2019 Easter bombings

A three-judge court ruled that Pujith Jayasundara failed to stop the attacks which targeted churches and hotels, killing 279 people.

31 Jul 2026 - 11:13PM

Video | Sri Lankans await justice, 5 years after Easter bombings

21 Apr 2024 - 6:02PM

UN calls for justice 5 years after hundreds died in Sri Lanka’s Easter bombings

21 Apr 2024 - 6:09PMvideocam

Sri Lanka to probe allegations of intelligence complicity in 2019 bombings

269 people died in the Easter Sunday attacks. A TV documentary has prompted the latest investigation, amid pressure from relatives, lawmakers, religious leaders and activists.

10 Sep 2023 - 10:11PMvideocam

A relative of a victim of the 2019 Easter Sunday bomb blasts in Sri Lanka pays tribute at a burial site. File photo: AP

Video | Sri Lankans demand justice for 2019 Easter bombing victims

21 Apr 2023 - 11:31PM

Sri Lanka must find truth of Easter blasts, say survivors and victims’ families

Families, survivors urge ‘deserving punishment’ for perpetrators, as evidence suggest authorities had intelligence on potential attacks at least two weeks in advance.

12 Apr 2023 - 7:21PMvideocam

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Extreme fitness

Hong Kong runner completes 22-day Sri Lanka hike in 58 hours

Hyun Chang Chung returns to country 19 years after he was caught in the Boxing Day Tsunami, and shocks the trail route’s designer by doing it in one none-stop run.

9 Mar 2023 - 6:37PMvideocam

Hyun Chang Chung runs the 300km Pekoe Trail in Sri Lanka. Photo: Ainhoa Mombiela

Pope asks Sri Lanka to reveal Easter 2019 bombers over conspiracy murmurs

The pope urged authorities to ‘make clear once and for all’ who was responsible for fatal attacks; it’s been said the bombs were part of a plot to help Rajapaksa win the November 2019 election.

25 Apr 2022 - 10:57PMvideocam

Sri Lanka’s all-powerful Rajapaksas family under fire

Hundreds tried to storm the home of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the current president and one of four politically active brothers; The controversial clan has held sway over the nation’s politics for decades.

1 Apr 2022 - 7:22PM

Sri Lanka to free rights lawyer detained over Easter Sunday 2019 bombings

Hejaaz Hizbullah arrested in 2020 on suspicion of being linked to attacks on churches and hotels the previous year that killed 279; detention highlighted by rights groups, European Parliament, UN.

7 Feb 2022 - 7:22PMvideocam

Security forces inspect a church hit by a bomb in Colombo, Sri Lanka in April 2019, when almost 300 people were killed in Easter Sunday blasts. Now a Sri Lankan court has ordered the release of a lawyer arrested over his alleged ties to the bombings and held for nearly two years on charges rights groups say lacked evidence. Photo: Getty Images

Sri Lanka arrests Muslim MP over attacks that killed 279

Detectives took Rishad Bathiudeen, leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Party and a former government minister, into custody following a predawn raid on Saturday.

24 Apr 2021 - 10:38PM

Rishad Bathiudeen, leader of Sri Lanka’s All Ceylon Makkal Congress Party, speaks at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Testing, testing: Sri Lanka cautiously reopens to tourists

The Indian Ocean destination is reopening for overseas visitors after a 10-month closure to restart its tourism industry, which has been battered by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as terrorist bombings in 2019.

19 Jan 2021 - 8:15PM

Sri Lanka heads to polls as Rajapaksas seek more power

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who won the presidency in November vowing to restore relations with China, wants a two-thirds majority to implement his economic and national security agenda.

5 Aug 2020 - 10:06PM

China-Sri Lanka relations

Sri Lanka, bruised from Easter bombings, seeks US$1 billion loan from China

The country is in talks with China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to provide the new loan in addition to the US$1.2 billion obtained from international agencies this year.

20 Jun 2019 - 10:27PM

Construction of the China-funded Colombo Port City project in Sri Lanka. Photo: Xinhua

Saudi Arabia extradites Sri Lankans linked to Easter attacks

Interpol identified one suspect as Mohamed Milhan, a senior leader of National Thowheeth Jama’ath, which was blamed for the hotel and church bombings.

15 Jun 2019 - 10:47AM

Sri Lankan military officers guard St Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo on April 21. Photo: Reuters

Sri Lanka president vows to block Easter terror attacks probe

A ministerial source said Maithripala Sirisena has refused to allow any police, military or intelligence personnel to testify before an investigative committee.

8 Jun 2019 - 10:41PM

Anxiety, fear, guilt: bleak Eid in Sri Lanka as Muslim ministers resign

Muslim ministers have resigned so the government can probe whether any of them were involved in the Easter Sunday bombs that killed more than 200

4 Jun 2019 - 10:15PM

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Letters | Don’t let the terrorists win: visit Sri Lanka

The Easter Sunday bombings have deterred visitors, hitting small local businesses hard in the island nation.

3 Jun 2019 - 5:00PM

A beach in Hikkaduwa in southwest Sri Lanka, a country that was the Lonely Planet guide’s top travel destination for 2019. However, since the Easter Sunday attacks on churches and luxury hotels, foreign tourists have been reluctant to visit. Photo: AP

Family of ‘Snowden refugees’ torn apart as Canada mulls asylum request

Sri Lankan family in Hong Kong who helped shelter American whistle-blower Edward Snowden say they fear for their lives and call on Canada to grant them refuge.

26 Dec 2021 - 1:56AMvideocam

‘Tawhid’: how Islamic tenet became violent strain linked to Sri Lanka bombings

Experts say the spread of ‘tawhid’ needs to be monitored as radicals exploiting the concept seek to change how locals have traditionally practised Islam in a multi-religious society.

16 May 2019 - 10:47PM

Video | Anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka

15 May 2019 - 3:26PM

Man killed in anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka, three weeks after Easter bombings

Arrest reveals Saudi connection to Sri Lanka’s Easter bombings

Ultraconservative Salafi-Wahhabi Islam, which has its roots in the Middle Eastern kingdom, has been taking root among the South Asian island’s Muslims.

12 May 2019 - 9:44PM

The flag of Saudi Arabia. Photo: AP

Opinion | As Sri Lanka loses faith in the government, it looks to a cardinal for leadership

With few people having positive words for Sri Lanka’s government, the voice of the Archbishop of Colombo seems to be the one that counts in what many now think is a battle against Islamic State.

12 May 2019 - 8:15AM

‘It is going to kick back’: Colombo nightlife after terror blasts

Since the deadly church and hotel bombings, the once crowded clubs, restaurants and bars of the capital have been empty. Owners face lean times, but remain optimistic about Sri Lanka’s resilience and the return of customers.

12 May 2019 - 8:02PM

Letters | Terrorism in the internet age: the world’s in the line of fire

The need for extreme vigilance in the face of internet-enabled terrorism, which sees the entire globe as its battlefield, cannot be understated.

11 May 2019 - 8:30AMvideocam

People run to safety after a van is found to contain a suspected explosive device, near St Anthony’s Church in Colombo on April 22. The previous day, nearly 300 people were killed and over 500 injured in a series of blasts in the city during Easter Sunday service. Photo: EPA-EFE

US official wounded in Sri Lankan Easter bombings has died

The Sri Lankan foreign ministry had previously said 44 foreign nationals died in the attacks, while another 10 are still unaccounted for.

9 May 2019 - 12:10PM

Sri Lankan Catholic devotees pray at St Anthony’s church after it was partially opened. Photo: AFP

Video | Mother left without family after Sri Lanka attacks

7 May 2019 - 4:24AM

Catholics say lonely prayers as Sri Lanka churches close for a second week

With the army staging raids across the country and authorities maintaining high levels of security, the country’s 1.25 million Christians are still on edge after jihadist bombers killed 257 people.

5 May 2019 - 8:03PM

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