World

Extremists In Sri Lanka Add 15 More To Country’s Death Toll

(JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Evie Fordham Politics and Health Care Reporter
Font Size:

Extremists connected to the Easter suicide bombings at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka killed 15 people after opening fire and detonating explosives Friday night when police raided a home in the eastern part of the country, authorities said.

Six of the dead were children, reported The Associated Press. The additional violence comes after a group of attackers targeted six hotels and churches and killed roughly 250 people, many of whom were Christians celebrating Easter.

Original reports put the death toll over 300 but it has since been revised down, reported BBC.

The Friday night killings came in the wake of a tipoff about a suspected safe house near Sammanthurai, reported the AP. A woman and a girl survived the explosion at the house but are being treated for critical injuries, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said. (RELATED: Suspected Ringleader Of Easter Sunday Bombings Died In Attacks: Sri Lankan Police)

Sri Lankan officials are wary the deaths will continue to pile up as they ferret out militants. They recovered dangerous explosives and even Islamic State flags, reported the AP.

Journalists take pictures inside St. Anthony's Shrine in Colombo on April 26, 2019, following a series of bomb blasts targeting churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Journalists take pictures inside St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo on April 26, 2019, following a series of bomb blasts targeting churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Police also said the suspected ringleader of an Islamic extremist group Sri Lankan officials blame for the initial bombings died in an explosion at the Shangri-La hotel in the country’s commercial capital, Colombo, on Easter.

Zahran Hashim, also known as Mohamed Zahran, was the leader of militant group National Thowheed Jamath and died in a suicide bombing, Sri Lankan police said. ISIS claimed responsibility Tuesday for the bombings without providing evidence.

A young boy cries during a funeral for a family member killed in the Easter Sunday attack on St Sebastian's Church, on April 25, 2019 in Negombo, Sri Lanka. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

A young boy cries during a funeral for a family member killed in the Easter Sunday attack on St Sebastian’s Church, on April 25, 2019 in Negombo, Sri Lanka. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

A young boy lights a candle at a grave after a funeral for a person killed in the Easter Sunday attack on St Sebastian's Church, on April 25, 2019 in Negombo, Sri Lanka.(Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

A young boy lights a candle at a grave after a funeral for a person killed in the Easter Sunday attack on St Sebastian’s Church, on April 25, 2019 in Negombo, Sri Lanka.(Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Life has not returned to normal in Sri Lanka, where Catholic leaders announced all Sunday masses are canceled in the wake of the Easter terrorist bombings. Leaders also encourage Muslims to avoid gathering to pray in fear of retaliatory attacks.

The Easter bombings attracted horror and attention from worldwide media. But not all coverage was well-received. The Washington Post provoked online backlash Monday after publishing an article that said the recent terrorist attacks targeting Christians in Sri Lanka fueled “far-right anger in the West.”

Follow Evie on Twitter @eviefordham.

Send tips to evie@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel