BREAKING: Sri Lankan officials say death toll from explosions up to 190, seven suspects arrested
The foreign minister says at least 27 foreigners were among those killed and that two police officers were killed during an operation to capture suspects from a safehouse in Dematagoda, the area outside Colombo where the eighth blast occurred.The defence minister says seven suspects linked to the blasts have been arrested.
But the scale of Sunday's bloodshed recalled the worst days of the war, when Tigers and other rebels set off explosions at Sri Lanka's Central Bank in downtown Colombo, at a busy shopping mall, an important Buddhist temple and tourist hotels.Wickremesinghe said his government would "vest all necessary powers with the defence forces" to take action against those responsible for the attacks, "regardless of their stature.
Speaking from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica, Francis said, "I want to express my loving closeness to the Christian community, targeted while they were gathered in prayer, and all the victims of such cruel violence." Alex Agieleson, who was near St. Anthony's Shrine, said buildings shook with the blast, and that a number of injured people were carried away in ambulances.
"New Zealand condemns all acts of terrorism and our resolve has only been strengthened by the attack on our soil," Ardern said. "New Zealand rejects all forms of extremism and stands for freedom of religion and the right to worship safely."
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