Tuesday Morning Briefing: Grieving relatives bury dead in Sri Lanka amid new security fears

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka buried more of its dead from suicide bomb attacks on churches holding Easter services and luxury hotels that killed 321 people in the country’s worst violence in a decade. More than 1,000 mourners gathered at the St. Sebastian church in the coastal city of Negombo, just north of the capital, Colombo, where more than 100 parishioners were killed as they worshipped on Sunday morning. No group has claimed responsibility for the coordinated attacks, which officials said were carried out by at least seven suicide bombers, on three churches and four hotels.

A total of eight explosions occurred. The first six explosions were all reported within a short period in the morning just as church services were starting. Another explosion south of the capital happened later and there was an eighth explosion at the house that was the subject of a police raid in Colombo. Sri Lanka faces a likely collapse in tourism following Easter Sunday bomb attacks on churches and hotels, which would deal a severe blow to the island’s economy and financial markets, and potentially force it to seek further IMF assistance.

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