Tag: Sri Lanka

NOVANEWS On Easter Sunday, eight explosions hit churches and  hotels in Sri Lanka causing hundreds of deaths and injuries.The Sri Lankan government has temporarily blocked social media throughout the country and imposed a curfew, while security forces are still in operation . Yesterday a new attack hit Colombo . On the morning of Easter Sunday, eight simultaneous  explosives exploded during the Easter celebrations , causing deaths and injuries, in the churches of St. Anthony in Columbus,  St. Sebastian in Negombo and the Christian Baptist Zion Church in Batticaloa. Hotels frequented by tourists in Colombo, the Shangri-La, the Kingsbury and the Cinnamon Grand Colombo, and a small hotel in Dehiwala, on the southern outskirts, were also targeted  . The eighth explosion, in Dematagoda, a nor...

NOVANEWS Teachers hold candles as they pray for the victims of Sri Lanka's serial bomb blasts, at a school in Ahmedabad, India, April 22, 2019. | Photo: Reuters Sri Lanka government accused a fringe militant Islamist group National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) for the attacks on Easter Sunday. The Sri Lankan government said Monday that Islamist group National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) was behind the recent attacks in the country in which 290 people were killed and nearly 500 wounded. RELATED: US Warns Terrorists Still Planning Attacks in Sri Lanka NTJ is believed to have split from Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath (SLTJ), another hardline group. SLTJ’s leader Abdul Razik was arrested in 2016. NTJ is being considered as a fringe group of the minority Muslim community which constit...

NOVANEWS Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is accused of crimes against humanity for his role in Sri Lanka's civil war. | Photo: Reuters Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned Saturday, vowing to bring the opposition to "its knees" by organizing the people. Sri Lanka's embattled Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned Saturday, only a month and a half after taking office to prevent an imminent government shutdown. RELATED: Sri Lanka Speaker: Sacking ex-PM Was 'Non-Violent Coup d'etat' The South Asian island has been in political limbo since President Maithripala Sirisena in late October replaced former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with Rajapaksa, who was then twice sacked by parliament but had refused to resign. As a government shutdown loomed, Raja...