JUDY WOODRUFF: Sri Lanka is under a national emergency tonight after a wave of suicide
bombings hit on Easter Sunday.
The attacks left 290 dead, including four Americans and 35 other foreigners.
The Indian Ocean nation remained tense today, as police worked to disarm additional bombs,
and some of them went off.
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JUDY WOODRUFF: A parked van with three bombs inside explodes today near the Colombo waterfront.
No was one hurt, but it punctuated the Easter Sunday attacks that left Christian worshipers
shaken and grieving.
SYLVESTER, Churchgoer (through translator): I heard the explosion and then the roof fell
on us.
We took the children and ran out from the rear door.
But when I came to the hospital, I saw my brother-in-law and son on the ground.
JUDY WOODRUFF: People who had come to celebrate their faith's holiest day struggled to help
the wounded.
Bricks crumbled to the ground in pools of blood, and inside St. Sebastian's Catholic
Church, blood stained the statue of Jesus.
Today, mothers prepared to bury children.
And songs of mourning surrounded caskets.
Outside of St. Anthony's Church, grief brought onlookers to their knees.
The suicide bombings at three churches and three luxury hotels were the worst violence
in Sri Lanka since a long civil war between majority Sinhalese and ethnic Tamils ended
a decade ago.
And it left a country asking why.
Bhavani Fonseka works at the Center for Policy Alternatives in Colombo.
BHAVANI FONSEKA, Center for Policy Alternatives: This is unprecedented in Sri Lanka . I think
that needs to be very clearly stated that in the past Sri Lanka has gone through decades
of violence.
The war came to a very brutal end 10 years ago.
But when certain incidents happened, there was responsibility claimed.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The government blamed a little-known, local jihadist group, National Thowheed Jamath,
saying six suicide bombers perpetrated the attacks.
Police arrested multiple suspects, and the prime minister vowed a swift response.
RANIL WICKREMESINGHE, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (through translator): I would like to
express my condolences with the families of the victims and those injured.
We will take stern action against all those who are responsible for these attacks, regardless
of their stature.
We will vest all necessary powers with the defense forces.
Let's remain patient during this national crisis.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Sri Lanka's president declared an emergency and gave the military sweeping
authority.
The government also blocked social media platforms, in an effort to stop what it called false
news reports.
Amarnath Amarasingam is from Sri Lanka, and works with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue
in Toronto.
AMARNATH AMARASINGAM, Institute for Strategic Dialogue: The government took a kind of immediate
approach, the only way they knew how, to try to prevent some kind of anti-Muslim violence
on the ground.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Sri Lankan officials also confirmed today they had multiple warnings of a terror
threat as early as April 4.
RAJITHA SENARATNE, Sri Lanka Health Minister: After all, as a government, we take -- we
are responsible for all that, whether we are we are -- we know the situation or not know
the situation.
That's a different matter.
Anyway, we are responsible.
We are very sorry, and we apologize to everybody.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Christians make up less than 10 percent of the country's population, which
is largely Buddhist, with Hindu and Muslim minorities.
But attacks on Christians in Sri Lanka have been relatively rare.
AMARNATH AMARASINGAM: That was quite shocking to see, not only this much planning and coordination,
but the fact that that much planning and coordination went into targeting Christians, which has
never happened in the country before.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Two Muslim groups in Sri Lanka condemned the church attacks today.
And President Trump spoke with the prime minister and pledged support, including FBI assistance
with the investigation.