Islamic State claims responsibility for Sri Lanka attacks
More than 1,000 mourners attend service at St Sebastian church in Negombo where 100 parishioners were killed
Negombo — Sri Lankans wept and prayed on Tuesday as they buried their dead from suicide bomb attacks at the weekend claimed by Islamic State. The co-ordinated attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels on Sunday killed 321 people in the country’s worst violence in a decade. Islamic State claimed responsibility, saying the bombings were retaliation for attacks on mosques in New Zealand, a Sri Lankan official said. Most of the 321 dead and 500 wounded were Sri Lankans, although government officials said 38 foreigners were killed. More than 1,000 mourners attended a memorial service at St Sebastian church in the coastal city of Negombo, just north of the capital, Colombo, where more than 100 parishioners were killed.
Pall-bearers in white carring victims in wooden coffins were followed by distraught relatives. Some needed help after they were overcome by grief and the heat. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Sri Lanka who led the service, urged other churches to...
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