Coordinated bombings kill at least 140 in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka bombings.
(Image credit: LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images)

An ongoing series of bombings targeted churches and luxury hotels in what is believed to be a coordinated terror attack in Sri Lanka on Sunday. At least 140 people have reportedly been killed and 560 injured.

The Sri Lankan government has declared a curfew, blocked access to most major social media sites, and deployed the military in response. The first wave of attacks reportedly occurred during three Easter services at Christian churches throughout the country, including in the capital Colombo. Christians are a minority in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka and Christian groups say they have faced increasing intimidation from some extremist Buddhist monks in recent years, per Reuters.

Three more bombs then went off at hotels, one near a zoo, and one at a private residence.

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Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena both condemned the attacks.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. Sri Lanka has been at "relative peace" for the past decade after the end of a 25-year civil war when terrorist bombings were common.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.