Image copyright
Reuters
On Easter Sunday, Sri Lanka was rocked by a series of bombings that killed almost 300 people at churches and top-end hotels.
It is the deadliest violence in the country since the end of the civil war a decade ago. Most of the victims are believed to be Sri Lankans, but at least 31 foreigners are among the dead too.
Police have made a number of arrests – although it remains unclear who was behind the attacks.
Here is what we know so far:
How did the attacks unfold?
The first reports were at about 08:45 (03:15 GMT) local time on Sunday morning, 21 April. Six blasts took place within a short space of time.
Three were at churches – in Colombo’s Kochchikade district, Negombo north of the capital, and Batticaloa in the east. The other three blasts rocked the Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand hotels in Colombo.
Two further explosions were reported later when police searched for suspects: one in Dehiwala in southern Colombo, and another one near the Colombo district of Dematagoda during a police raid.
The police have not given details about how many people died at each of the blast sites.
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.
Image copyright
Reuters
One of the blasts targeted St Sebastian’s Church in Negombo
How many people are dead?
On Monday morning, the official death toll given by authorities stood at 290, a sharp jump from about 200 deaths that had been reported by Sunday night.
There are more than 500 injured and the death toll might still rise.
Image copyright
Reuters
The attack is the worst violence Sri Lanka has experieced in a decade
Hundreds of Sri Lankan families are in mourning. One of the first victims 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, the US and China.
Among the dead are three children of Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, owner of the Bestseller clothing chain and a the largest stake holder in clothing giant Asos.
Who was behind the attacks?
It’s still not clear. No group has said it carried out the co-ordinated blasts.
But on Monday the Sri Lankan authorities said they believe a little-known local Islamist group known as National Thowheed Jamath was behind them – and said officials were investigating whether it had had “international help”.
Image copyright
EPA
Security remains on high alert at St Anthony’s, and across the country
The group has no history of large-scale attacks but came to prominence last year when it was blamed for damaging Buddhist statues.
Addressing reports that officials had had prior intelligence of forthcoming attacks, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said: “We must look into why adequate precautions were not taken. Neither I nor the ministers were kept informed.”
Police have arrested 24 people and said all the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers. No information has been given on the identity of those arrested.
Sri Lanka’s history and religion
Sunday’s attacks were the worst ever against Sri Lanka’s small Christian minority, who make up just 7% of the 21 million population.
Theravada Buddhism is Sri Lanka’s biggest religious group, making up about 70% of the population. Hindus and Muslims make up around 12% and 10% of the population respectively.
Image copyright
Reuters
Christians are a small minority in Sri Lanka
The attacks are Sri Lanka’s deadliest act of violence since the end of the country’s 26-year civil war in 2009.
The war is thought to have killed between 70,000 and 80,000 people and ended with the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, who had fought for independence for the Tamil minority.