Sri Lanka Attacks: What we know about the Easter bombings

On Easter Sunday, suicide bombers killed at least 253 people and injured some 500 at churches and top-end hotels across Sri Lanka.

The BBC report that most victims were Sri Lankans, but at least 38 foreigners are among the dead, including British, Indian and US citizens.

The official death toll had reached 359 by Thursday. However, the Sri Lankan government then revised the figure down, blaming a calculation error.

Evidence is mounting that local jihadists linked to the Islamic State (IS) group carried out the attack, and police have made a number of arrests.

What happened?

The first reports were at about 08:45 (03:15 GMT) on Sunday 21 April 2019. Six blasts took place within a short space of time.

Three were at churches - in the Kochchikade district of the capital, Colombo; in Negombo, to the north; and in the eastern city of Batticaloa. The other three blasts rocked the Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand hotels in Colombo.

Two further explosions were reported later as police searched for suspects - one in Dehiwala in southern Colombo, and another one near the Colombo district of Dematagoda, during a police raid.

Late on Sunday, an improvised explosive device was found and disposed of close to the country's main airport, near Colombo.

And on Monday another blast rocked a street near a church in the capital. Police were attempting to defuse explosives in a vehicle used by the attackers when it blew up.

According to the BBC, police sources in Sri Lanka claim that an attack on a fourth hotel failed and helped lead police to the Islamist group now blamed for the assault.

On Friday, relatives of the bombers' suspected mastermind, Islamist preacher Zahran Hashim, were among 15 people killed when police raided a house in the eastern town of Sainthamaruthu.

Who are the victims?

Hundreds of Sri Lankan families are in mourning. One of the first victims to be identified was celebrity chef Shantha Mayadunne. Other Sri Lankans killed included members of church congregations and staff at the hotels targeted.The confirmed international casualties are from the UK, Denmark, Portugal, India, Turkey, Australia, the Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, Bangladesh, the US and China.

Who were the attackers?

On Monday Sri Lankan authorities said they believed a little-known local militant Islamist group known as National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) was to blame. On Tuesday, IS said it had carried out the attacks, and released video of men it says were the bombers, pledging allegiance to the group.

All but one of the men can be seen with their faces covered. Some are holding knives. The man with his face uncovered has been named as Hashim, who went on to blow himself up at a hotel in Colombo. IS said "members of the US-led coalition and Christians in Sri Lanka" had been targeted.

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera says that while IS in the past has claimed attacks it was not involved in, this statement is being taken seriously due to the scale of the attacks. The choice of targets is more in line with IS ideology than with traditional types of communal violence seen in Sri Lanka, he adds.

According to the Sri Lankan government, most of the attackers were "well educated" and had come from "middle- or upper middle-class" families. Two were sons of a wealthy spice trader, Mohamed Ibrahim, who was arrested after the attacks.

How has the government responded?

The NTJ was banned on Saturday and dozens of arrests have been made since the attacks. A curfew was also imposed.

The government admitted a "major intelligence lapse" after it was revealed that an Indian intelligence warning from the beginning of the month about planned attacks was not properly shared by the authorities. Security services had been monitoring the NTJ, but the prime minister and the cabinet were not warned, ministers said. President Maithripala Sirisena moved to sack the defence secretary and inspector general of police.

Large scale hate crimes and terror attacks have adamaging affect on the communities involved, but although an incident may take place hundreds, sometimes thosands of miles away, the affects of such events are known to cause anxiety, worry and confusion to communities here in the UK.

There are organisations in the UK that are in place to support people who maye have any worries or concerns. Here in Warwickshire, EQuIP and Victim Support are in place to support any person or communities that are concerned about being a victim of hate related crimes.

If any person does feel they may be a target, you can seek support by contacting us. All contact details are located on the www.reporthatenow.com website. If any person(s) actual experiences and/or witnesses an hate crime, please report it using one of the various options which include reporting online via reporthatenow.com, email: advice@equipequality.org.uk or call us: 01788 863117. In an emergency, always call 999 or 101 in a non-emergency situation.