Sri Lanka declares April 23 day of mourning after bombings

World Today

PAKISTAN-SRI LANKA-ATTACKSPakistani members of civil society hold candles to pay tribute to the Sri Lankan blasts victims during a vigil in Lahore on April 22, 2019. (Photo by ARIF ALI / AFP)

Sri Lanka’s president has declared April 23 a national day of mourning. President Maithripala Sirisena’s office announced the measure in a statement late Monday.

CGTN’s Ravinder Bawa reports.

The statement also says that Sirisena would meet with foreign diplomats to seek international assistance.

It cited intelligence agencies’ reports that “international groups” were involved with the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka that killed nearly 300 people. The statement did not provide more details about the groups.

The statement also said the president instructed Sri Lanka’s security forces to provide additional security at the nation’s Catholic churches.

Story by The Associated Press with additional information from CGTN.


Stratfor’s Fred Burton on Sri Lankan security after bombings

There are questions about what Sri Lanka knew and when. Could the bombings have been prevented? For analysis, CGTN’s Asieh Namdar spoke with Fred Burton, chief security officer at Stratfor, a geo-politics research firm.