The Loadout Blog

Rolling Brief

On Sunday, Easter Morning at approximately 08:45 local time coordinated suicide bombings took place in Sri Lankan cities of Colombo, Negombo, and Batticaloa. These coordinated suicide bombings targeted churches, hotels, and other sites. The suicide bombings of Easter Sunday have killed over 300 people.

Here is an Intel Brief of what we know so far.

Attack Breakdown

The first reports about an attack occurred around 08:45 local time Sunday morning April 21st. Six blasts took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka. About 20 miles to North in Negombo suffered 1 bombing at St. Sebastian’s Church and 1 bomb defused by Sri Lanka Air Force at Bandaranaike International Airport. Finally, attack occurred in Batticaloa at Zion Church about 180 miles away from Negombo.

Note: The attack time I will lay out will all begin from 08:45 Local time. If, I am able to corroborate that certain attacks occurred simultaneously I will bold and underline. I will apply rough time estimates also, so we can build a rudimentary timeline.

Colombo

6 Bombings, at least 82 dead

The attacks in Colombo started around 08:45 Sunday morning. The explosions occurred at a church (St. Anthony’s), 3 hotels (Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Tropical Inn), and in a housing complex (Dematagoda Housing Complex).

Morning Attacks 08:45-09:30 a.m.

1. St. Anthony’s Church– (08:45) Sunday morning reports of St. Anthony’s Church had been attacked by a suicide bomber. Dozens killed or injured by the blast.
2. Shangri-La Hotel- (10-15 mins+) Shangri-La Hotel was had been attacked by two suicide bombers at The Table One Restaurant inside the hotel where families were having Easter Breakfast. Restaurant was located on the Hotel’s Third Floor. This attack occurred just before 0900 local time.
3. Kingsbury Hotel- (10-15 mins+) Reports of another suicide bombing at Kingsbury Hotel. The bombing shatters windows and walls.
4. Cinnamon Grand Hotel- (10-15 mins+) Reports flow in that there was an attack on the Cinnamon Grand Hotel.

Afternoon Attacks

1. Tropical Inn- (13:45) While police were carrying out raids across the city an explosion was reported in the suburb of Dehiwala, near the National Zoo at the Tropical Inn.
2. Dematagoda Housing Complex- (14:15) Police are questions a suspect when a bomb is detonated killing 3 police officers. 3 suspects attempted to flee but were captured.

Negombo

1 Bombing & Disposal, at least 100 dead

Attack/Disposal

1. St. Sebastian’s Catholic Church– (08:45) At the same time as the St. Anthony’s attack 20 miles to the North in Negombo the attack on St. Sebastian’s occurred as well. Blowing out the roof and causing immense devastation inside the church. Up to 100 people were killed.
2. Barndaranaike International Airport- (time not verifiable)- Sri Lankan Air Force diffuses a 110 lbs pipe bomb found on location.

Batticaloa

1 Bombing, at least 28 dead

1. Zion Church- (09:05) About 180 miles away from Negombo another suicide bomber hit Zion Evangelical Church. Batticaloa main hospital received about 300 people with injuries hours after the blast.

Casualties

As, of Tuesday morning the death toll had reached 310 and 500 wounded in the Easter Morning attacks carried out through Sri Lanka. At least 39 of the dead are foreigners who were visiting the country on vacation.

Confirmed international casualties are from the UK, Denmark, Portugal, India, Turkey, Australia, the Netherlands, Japan, US and China.

Terrorist Behind the Easter Morning Attacks

It is not clear who carried out the attacks as of Monday. No, group had taken claim to the coordinated attacks. Sri Lankan authorities believe that a little known local Islamist group known as the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) could be behind the attacks. Sri Lankan authorities and international help are investigating potential leads.

Breaking Development– Tuesday morning the terror group ISIS took claim for the attacks of Sunday in Sri Lanka. ISIS made this claim through the Amaq news agency without giving evidence for its claims.

Resources

Photos were taken from New York Times, Guardian, and the Associated Press. Infromation used to build this intel brief came from the Washington Post, Guardian, New York Times, and BBC. Links will be provided below.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/04/21/sri-lanka-timeline-how-eight-explosions-wrought-devastation-easter-sunday/?utm_term=.1e8b1a7241ae

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/22/sri-lanka-bombings-a-timeline-and-visual-guide

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2019/apr/23/sri-lanka-bombings-attacks-live-news

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48010697