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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.

Nifraz Rifaz, a Sri Lankan novelist based in Hong Kong, sits by the Jamia Mosque in Mid-Levels. His debut novel, Paper Planes, is set against the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka. Photo: Karma Lo

Books and literature

His family felt silenced after Sri Lanka’s Easter bombings. He tells their story

Hong Kong-based Sri Lankan Nifraz Rifaz’s novel Paper Plane explores the trauma faced by Muslims in the aftermath of the 2019 attacks.

18 Oct 2026 - 7:15PM

Sri Lanka court convicts 15 over 2019 Easter bombings

22 Sep 2026 - 9:15PMvideocam

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

31 Jul 2026 - 11:13PM

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

21 Apr 2024 - 6:02PM

Sri Lankan families still holding out for justice, five years after Easter bombings

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

Islamist bombers hit three churches and three hotels in 2019, killing more than 279 people, but grieving families say they are still awaiting justice.

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

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Video | Sri Lankans demand justice for 2019 Easter bombing victims

21 Apr 2023 - 11:31PM

Sri Lankans call for justice on fourth anniversary of 2019 Easter bombings

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

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

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

Pope Francis arrives in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Italy, for an audience with pilgrims from Sri Lanka on Monday. Photo: AP

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

Members of the Socialist Youth Union, dressed as Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brothers Basil and Mahinda, protest against the country’s worst economic crisis. Photo: AP

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

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

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 is opening its borders to tourists after a 10-month break. Photo: Getty Images

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

People wearing face masks queue outside a polling station in Colombo to cast their votes in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election on Friday. Photo: Reuters

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

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

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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

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

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

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

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

From left: Little Dinath, his dad Supun Thilina Kellapatha, and sister Sethumdi, make a video call to his half-sister Keana, 7, who is in Canada. Photo: Nora Tam

‘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

Security personnel patrol outside St Anthony’s Church, one of the sites bombed on Easter Sunday. Photo: EPA

Video | Anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka

15 May 2019 - 3:26PM

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

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

Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith. Photo: AFP

‘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

An empty bar in Park Street Mews in downtown Colombo. Photo: AFP

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

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

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