Authorities have lifted a curfew in Sri Lanka, a day after 290 people were killed and about 500 wounded by a string of bombings that tore through churches and luxury hotels. There was still no claim of responsibility for the attacks on three churches and four hotels, mostly in and around the capital Colombo.
One of the explosions was at St. Anthony's Shrine, a Catholic church and a tourist landmark. Soldiers armed with automatic weapons stood guard outside the damaged churches, major hotels and the World Trade Centre in the business district, where the four hotels were targeted. The hotels hit were the Shangri-La, the Kingsbury, the Cinnamon Grand and the Tropical Inn near the national zoo.
A government source said President Maithripala Sirisena, who was abroad when the attacks happened, had called a meeting of the National Security Council. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would also attend the meeting.
Sri Lanka had been at war for decades with Tamil separatists but extremist violence had been on the wane since the civil war ended 10 years ago.