PICS: Death toll in Sri Lanka attacks rises to 359

Sri Lankan police said on

Wednesday they had detained 18 more people for questioning over

the Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels, claimed by the

Islamic State group, as the death toll climbed again to 359.

The extremist Islamic State group made its claim after Sri

Lankan officials said the suicide bombings in Sri Lanka were

carried out in retaliation for attacks on two mosques in New

Zealand that killed 50 people in March.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the death toll had

risen to 359 from 321 overnight, with about 500 people wounded,

but did not give a breakdown of casualties from the three

churches and four hotels hit by the bombers.

Islamic State said through its AMAQ news agency the assaults

in Sri Lanka were carried out by seven attackers but gave no

evidence to support its claim of responsibility. If true, it

would be one of the worst attacks carried out by the group

outside Iraq and Syria.

University of Dubuque professor Lalith Jayawickrama lights his wife's candle during a vigil at Blades Chapel on the University of Dubuque campus. Photo: Eileen Meslar/Telegraph Herald via AP

Junior minister for defence Ruwan Wijewardene told

parliament on Tuesday two Sri Lankan Islamist groups - the

National Thawheed Jama'ut and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim -

were responsible for the blasts, which went off during Easter

services and as hotels served breakfast.

Police continued searching homes across the Indian Ocean

island nation overnight, leading to the detention of 18 more

people. That brings the number of people taken in for

questioning to close to 60, including one Syrian.

Coffins are laid in the ground during a mass burial for victims at a cemetery near St Sebastian's Church in Negombo. Photo: Thomas Peter/Reuters

The overnight raids included areas near the Gothic-style St

Sebastian church in Negombo, north of the capital, where scores

were killed on Sunday, a police spokesman said. An unspecified

number of people were detained in western Sri Lanka, the scene

of Muslim riots in 2014.

"Search operations are going on everywhere, there is tight

checking of Muslim areas," a security source said.

The Easter Sunday bombings shattered the relative calm that

has existed in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka since a civil war

against mostly Hindu, ethnic Tamil separatists ended 10 years

ago, and raised fears of a return to sectarian violence.

A woman who lost her husband and two children during the bombing at St Sebastian's Church yells towards the graves during a mass burial for victims at a cemetery near the church in Negombo. Photo: Thomas Peter/Reuters

Sri Lanka's 22 million people include minority Christians,

Muslims and Hindus. Until now, Christians had largely managed to

avoid the worst of the island's conflict and communal tensions.

The attacks have already foreshadowed a shake-up of Sri

Lankan security forces, with President Maithripala Sirisena

saying on Tuesday night he planned to change some of his defence

chiefs after criticism that intelligence warnings of an Easter

attack were ignored.

Three sources told Reuters that Sri Lankan intelligence

officials had been warned by India hours before the blasts that

attacks by Islamists were imminent. It was not clear what

action, if any, was taken.

People participate in a mass funeral in Negombo. Photo: Thomas Peter/Reuters

Most of those killed and wounded were Sri Lankans, although

government officials said 38 foreigners were also killed. That

included British, US, Australian, Turkish, Indian, Chinese,

Danish, Dutch and Portuguese nationals.

The UN Children's Fund said 45 children were among the

dead.

Junior defence minister Wijewardene said investigators

believed revenge for the March 15 mosque attacks in the New

Zealand city of Christchurch was the motive but did not

elaborate. The attacks during Friday prayers in Christchurch

were carried out by a lone gunman.

A view of the damage at St. Sebastian Catholic Church, after bomb blasts ripped through churches and luxury hotels on Easter. Photo: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

The Sri Lankan government has imposed emergency law and an

overnight curfew. It said it has also blocked online messaging

services to stop the spread of inflammatory rumours that it

feared could incite communal clashes.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is assisting with

investigations.

Reuters

• Sri Lanka observes three-minute silence for bomb victims