(UTV | COLOMBO) – Sri Lanka marks one of its darkest days in history today (April 21), with the second commemoration of the deadly Easter Sunday terror attacks which claimed the lives of more than 260 and injured at least 500 others.
The country was left devastated on the 21st of April in 2019 after a group of suicide attackers of the now-outlawed local Islamic extremist organization National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) carried out a series of blasts at St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade, St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, Zion Church in Batticaloa, Cinnamon Grand, Kingsbury and Shangri-La hotels in Colombo and a guest house in Dehiwala.
Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency immediately after the bombings and the probes launched into the incident led to the arrest of many who have had links to the suicide bombers.
Special religious ceremonies are taking place today under the patronage of the Archbishop of Colombo, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, in remembrance of the victims of the massacre.