Several suicide bombers detonated themselves: Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan government said on Monday that several suicide bombers had detonated themselves during a series of attacks against three churches and three luxury hotels in the country on Easter Sunday that left nearly 300 dead and 500 wounded.

"The majority are suicide bombers (...) And their training places have been identified and raided as well," said Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne at a press conference here.

He said that investigations had suggested that the deadly attacks were possibly planned with the help of an international network, given the training received by the attackers and the use of explosives at such a massive scale.

"We don't see that only a small organization in this country can do all that, we are now investigating about the international support for them, and their other links: how they produced the suicide bombers here, and how they produced bombs like this," he added.

The attacks had began with six coordinated bomb blasts at 8.45 a.m. at three luxury hotels in Colombo, and three churches across the country during Easter services.

A few hours later, a seventh blast had rocked a small hotel near the Dehiwala Zoo, about 12 km south of the capital. An eighth explosion took place at a residential compound in Dematagoda in Colombo.

More than 20 people have been arrested in connection to the bombings, which have not been claimed by any group until now.

--IANS

mr/vd