Sri Lanka church targeted in shooting days before Easter bombings anniversary

(AFP): A gunman fired at a church in Sri Lanka, police said on Saturday, with the country on high alert six years since Easter Sunday bombings killed hundreds.

The gunman opened fire Friday at a church in Manampitiya, 160 kilometres northeast of the capital, Colombo, a police statement said.

The shooting damaged windows, and no one was hurt, while a suspect has been arrested, police said.

“Initial investigations suggest that the suspect had targeted the church due to a personal enmity with the pastor,” the statement said.

Armed police and troops have been deployed to nearly all churches nationwide during Easter celebrations, with security heightened following the 2019 attack.

Suicide bombers in 2019 killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners, at three churches and three hotels.

More than 500 people were wounded in the attack, which officials blamed on a home-grown Islamist group.

The Catholic Church will commemorate the victims on Monday by declaring them “Heroes of the Faith”.

Sri Lanka’s Catholic minority has maintained a campaign for justice since the bombings, saying that prior investigations failed to answer outstanding questions.

The Church has accused successive governments of protecting those behind the attack, and several high-level investigations have identified links between military intelligence units and the bombers.