The world has joined Sri Lanka to condemn the Sunday’s coordinated terrorist attacks in churches during Easter Sunday services.
The prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has convened Sri Lanka‘s top military officials at an emergency meeting of the national security council.
The emergency meeting involves the secretaries of defence and foreign affairs, along with the heads of the army, air force and navy, according to Sri Lanka’s economic reforms minister, Harsha de Silva.
He said on Twitter the group would soon issue a statement on the blasts.
As the attacks continued, the Sri Lankan government imposed a curfew.
A wave of bomb attacks in churches and hotels in Sri Lanka have killed more than 185 people and injured hundreds.
In one church, St. Sebastian’s in Katuwapitiya, north of the capital Colombo, more than 50 people had been killed, a police official said.
Most of the targets were either in or close to the capital, Colombo. Among the hotels targeted was the Cinnamon Grand, a luxury hotel in the centre of the city that is favoured by top politicians.
Hospitals were struggling to cope with the influx of casualties.
At least 160 people injured in the St Anthony’s blast had been admitted to the Colombo National hospital alone by mid-morning, one official said. The main hospital in the eastern port city of Batticaloa had received more than 300 people with injuries following the blast at the Zion church.
A smaller blast at a hotel near the national zoo in Colombo came about three hours after the first attacks.
Some reports attributed the explosion to attackers who had been cornered by security forces.
Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, said those affected would be in the prayers of millions marking Easter Sunday around the world.
“On this holy day, let us stand with the people of Sri Lanka in prayer, condolence and solidarity as we reject all violence, all hatred and all division,” he said.
Sri Lanka is a popular tourist destination and nine foreigners were among the dead, officials said.
The blasts marked the end of a lull after the end of the civil war a decade ago, during which bombings were common.
The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka issued a statement condemning the attack on the places of worship of “our Christian brothers and sisters on their holy day of Easter, as well as on the hotels in Colombo”.
“We mourn the loss of innocent lives due to extremist and violent elements who wish to create divides between religious and ethnic groups to realise their agenda,” the statement said.
Out of Sri Lanka‘s total population of around 22 million, 70% are Buddhist, 12.6% Hindu, 9.7% Muslim, and 7.6% Christian, according to the country’s 2012 census.
There has been growing intercommunal tension in Sri Lanka for several years.
Last year, there were 86 verified incidents of discrimination, threats and violence against Christians, according to organisations that represent more than 200 local churches and other Christian organisations.
This year, the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL), recorded 26 such incidents, including one in which Buddhist monks allegedly attempted to disrupt a Sunday worship service, with the last one reported on 25 March.