JAYPSONGS
Sri Lankan police 'were warned of Easter terror attack by Muslim extremists TEN DAYS before suicide bombers struck churches and hotels
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Sri Lanka's police chief warned of potential suicide bombing plots on 'prominent churches' from Islamic extremists ten days before today's attacks which killed 207 people, according to reports.
Seven suspects have been arrested so far after the blasts hit high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in #SriLanka on Sunday, injuring as many as 500 people.
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Recently a religious divide has taken hold in the country, which is 70 percent are Buddhist, 13 per cent Hindu, 10 per cent Muslim, and seven per cent Christian, according to the country's 2012 census.
. 'A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama'ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo,' the alert said.
The NTJ is a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka that was linked last year to the vandalisation of Buddhist statues.
The first blast was reported at St Anthony's Shrine, a well-known Catholic church in the capital Colombo.
A second deadly explosion was then confirmed at St Sebastian's, a church in the town of Negombo, north of the capital.
Soon after, police confirmed that a third church in the town of Batticaloa had been hit, along with three high-end hotels in the capital.
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Hospital sources said British, Dutch and American citizens were among the dead, with Britons and Japanese among those injured in the attacks.
Sri Lankan police 'were warned of Easter terror attack by Muslim extremists TEN DAYS before suicide bombers struck churches and hotels
.
.
Sri Lanka's police chief warned of potential suicide bombing plots on 'prominent churches' from Islamic extremists ten days before today's attacks which killed 207 people, according to reports.
Seven suspects have been arrested so far after the blasts hit high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in #SriLanka on Sunday, injuring as many as 500 people.
.
Recently a religious divide has taken hold in the country, which is 70 percent are Buddhist, 13 per cent Hindu, 10 per cent Muslim, and seven per cent Christian, according to the country's 2012 census.
. 'A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama'ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo,' the alert said.
The NTJ is a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka that was linked last year to the vandalisation of Buddhist statues.
The first blast was reported at St Anthony's Shrine, a well-known Catholic church in the capital Colombo.
A second deadly explosion was then confirmed at St Sebastian's, a church in the town of Negombo, north of the capital.
Soon after, police confirmed that a third church in the town of Batticaloa had been hit, along with three high-end hotels in the capital.
.
Hospital sources said British, Dutch and American citizens were among the dead, with Britons and Japanese among those injured in the attacks.
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