Sri Lanka is under a state of emergency following bomb attacks at hotels and Christian religious centers in the country Sunday. The attacks killed almost 300 people and wounded hundreds of others. Sunday was Easter, the holiest day in the Christian year. President Maithripala Sirisena’s emergency order permits police expanded power to search, seize, arrest, and question people. A curfew is also in effect from sunset to sunrise. The government also has blocked most social media websites. Sri Lankan officials said Monday that intelligence agencies had warned weeks ago of possible attacks by a little known Muslim extremist group, National Thowfeek Jamaath. It has now been blamed for the Easter attacks in the mainly Buddhist country. Sri Lankan Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said the intelligence agencies began issuing the warnings on April 4. The defense ministry wrote to the police chief with information that included the group’s name. And police wrote April 11 to the heads of security of the judiciary and diplomatic security division.
