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Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, facing camera at right, attend a holy service marking the seventh day of the Easter Sunday attacks outside the St. Anthony’s Church in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Sunday.[/caption]
Colombo, April 28 (IANS): Catholics in Sri Lanka followed televised religious services on Sunday as churches remained shut after the bishops’ conference decided to suspend mass until further notice due to fears of fresh attacks following the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings.
President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe attended a private ceremony - aired on radio and television across the nation - which was conducted by Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Ranjith, accompanied by other priests, reports Efe news.
Religious services were suspended by the Catholic church in the island nation over fears of fresh attacks, after 253 people died and more than 500 were wounded in a series of attacks on Easter Sunday.
During the Sunday sermon, Ranjith paid tribute to the victims of the tragedy and called the attacks “an insult to humanity” in the service.
“Today during this mass we are paying attention to last Sunday’s tragedy and we try to understand it.
“We pray that in this country there will be peace and co-existence and understanding each other without division,” he added
Also on Sunday, people gathered for a public service outside the St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo - the site of one of the deadliest bombings, reports the BBC.
There, Buddhist monks joined Catholic priests for prayers in a show of solidarity with the Christian community.
The church’s bells tolled at 8.45 a.m., the exact moment a bomber detonated his device one week ago. The hands of its damaged clock tower are still stuck at that time.
Six coordinated explosions occurred on April 21 starting at 8.45 a.m. at three luxury hotels in Colombo and three churches across the country as they were holding Easter services.
Another blast later in the afternoon left two dead in a small hotel near Dehiwala Zoo, around 10 km south of the capital.
The eighth explosion killed three police officers at a residential complex in Dematagoda, Colombo.
The attacks were the deadliest in Sri Lanka since the end of the 1983-2009 civil war between Tamil Tigers and the government.
ISIS claims three militants killed in gunfire with security forces in Sri Lanka
The Islamic State has claimed the three militants who blew themselves up during a fierce gun battle with security forces in Sri Lanka’s Eastern province, a media report said on Sunday.
The shootout occurred on Friday night as the security forces continued their hunt for members of the National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ), the local terror outfit behind the April 21 coordinated blasts that killed 253 people and injured over 500 others.
The Special Task Force and Army troops, following a tip-off, raided a house in Kalmunai city, about 360 kms from Colombo leading to the heavy exchange of fire with the armed group.
As the heavily-armed men opened fire on troops, a civilian caught in the middle got killed.
As the clashes intensified, three men are believed to have set off explosives.
In a statement published early Sunday through the its propaganda ‘Amaq’ news agency, the ISIS said that it gave their noms du guerre as Abu Hammad, Abu Sufyan and Abu al-Qa’qa, the Colombo Gazette reported.
It said they opened fire with automatic weapons and after exhausting their ammunition, detonated on them their explosive belts.
Six children and three women were among 15 people killed when the militants opened fire and blew themselves up during the gun battle with security forces.
A police spokesman said that three suspected suicide bombers were among the 15 dead.
A huge cache of explosives was also recovered from the spot.
Officials have recovered detonators, suicide kits, army uniforms and ISIS flags.
Nine suicide bombers carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels on the Easter Sunday, killing 253 people.
The ISIS claimed the attacks, but the government has blamed local Islamist extremist group NTJ for the attacks.
President Maithripala Sirisena said Friday that over 130 suspects linked to the ISIS have been operating in the country.
