Beirut explosion: Anti-government protests break out in city

Protesters clashed with Lebanese security forces at anti-government demonstrations in Beirut on Thursday.

Officers deployed tear gas on dozens of people near parliament.

Demonstrators were angered by Tuesday's devastating blast, which officials say was caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely since 2013.

Many in Lebanon say government negligence led to the explosion, which killed at least 137 people and injured about 5,000 others.

The explosion destroyed entire districts in the capital, with homes and businesses reduced to rubble. Dozens of people are still unaccounted for.

Dozens of people protested near parliament in Beirut. Reuters

The state news agency says 16 people have been taken into custody as part of an investigation announced by the government this week.

Since the disaster two officials have resigned. MP Marwan Hamadeh stepped down on Wednesday, while Lebanon's ambassador to Jordan Tracy Chamoun stepped down on Thursday, saying the catastrophe showed the need for a change in leadership.

Earlier on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron also visited the city and said Lebanon needed to see "profound change" from authorities.

He also called for an international investigation into the disaster.

People have blamed government negligence, corruption and mismanagement for the blast. Reuters

A city of sirens, empty buildings and empty streets

By Quentin Sommerville, BBC News, Beirut

This port was Lebanon's lifeline to the whole world. Something like 80% of the country's grain came through here. The grain silos, which were built way back when, are teetering. Just beyond there I can see a ship listing heavily. I've lived in Beirut for five years and it's almost unrecognisable - it's a city of sirens, of empty buildings, of empty streets.

As I look at the neighbourhood of Gemmayze just behind the port, I can't see a single pane of glass left. Entire roofs have gone - I can see friends' apartments, which are just open to the sky now. All of this area, which was really heavily populated, has been abandoned. No-one is coming back here any time soon.

What's really noticeable as you walk the streets here is that every second person seems to have a broom in their hand. There are clear-up teams everywhere, but it's pretty low tech: tiny teams of people with pans and brushes to clean up an an entire city's devastation.

The thing that really strikes me is how enormously stupid it was, what criminal negligence it took to leave this highly explosive material right in the very heart of this city, within yards of people, their homes, their businesses. And the authorities here knew - they had been warned that these chemicals were dangerous and that they were a great risk to Beirut and Lebanon.

Where did the ammonium nitrate come from?

In 2013 a Moldovan-flagged ship, the Rhosus, entered Beirut port after suffering technical problems during its journey from Georgia to Mozambique, according to Shiparrested.com, which deals with shipping-related legal cases.

The Rhosus was inspected, banned from sailing onward and was shortly afterwards abandoned by its owners, sparking several legal claims.

Its cargo included the ammonium nitrate, which is used as a fertiliser and as an explosive.

It was stored in a port warehouse for safety reasons, the report said, and it remained there for the next six years.

There are a lot of rules around storing ammonium nitrate, particularly around fire-proofing, because it is so highly explosive if it comes into contact with flames.

People in Beirut have been volunteering to clean up the rubble. EPA

The head of the port and the head of the customs authority said that they had written to the judiciary several times asking that the chemical be exported or sold on to ensure port safety.

Port General Manager Hassan Koraytem told OTV they had been aware that the material was dangerous when a court first ordered it stored in the warehouse, "but not to this degree".

Is there any hope of finding survivors?

Rescuers are continuing to search for people in Beirut, and security forces have sealed off a wide area around the blast site.

On Thursday, two days after the explosion, a French rescue team working in the city said there was still a good chance of finding survivors.

One unnamed rescuer told Mr Macron during his visit that they hoped to find a group of seven or eight people believed to be trapped in a "control room" under the rubble.

Meanwhile, Beirut's hospitals are feeling the strain of so many people needing medical care. Public Health Minister Hamad Hassan said Lebanon's health sector was short of beds, and lacked the equipment necessary to treat the injured and those in critical condition.

Beirut's governor Marwan Aboud also warned that as many as 300,000 people have been left homeless by the blast.

Lebanon also imports most of its food. Because large quantities of grain stored in the port have been destroyed, there are fears that the country will face widespread food insecurity. The future of the port itself is in doubt too.

Was Lebanon already in crisis?

Before this disaster, Lebanon's hospitals were already struggling to cope with a rise in Covid-19 infections.

The country is also going through the worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, and was seeing regular anti-government street protests.

People were having to deal with daily power cuts, a lack of safe drinking water and limited public healthcare.

(Source: BBC)

This is not Beirut

This is not Beirut.

But no—this is Beirut! A city broken and wounded, whose blood spreads like glass over the eyes. A city paved with glass, as though glass had turned into eyes, plucked out and filling the streets. In Beirut, you must tread on your eyes in order to see. And when you see, you are struck blind. A city of glassy blindness, of ammonium nitrate, and of the searing blast that swallowed the city and split the sea.

This is not Beirut.

For forty-five years we have been saying of Beirut that it is not Beirut. We lost Beirut while searching for it in the deficient past. “The City of Is-No-More”—that is the name we gave it, for, starting with the destruction of the civil war, we have attributed everything in Beirut to its past. This week, however, as we fell to the ground before the monster that exploded at the city’s port, we discovered that it was the destruction itself that was our city, these houses stripped naked were our houses, these groans were our groans.

BEIRUT SUNSET, WITH PORT IN THE DISTANCE (© ADOBE STOCK)

This is Beirut! Everyone, tear your eyes away from the ground and behold your city reflected in these ruins! Stop searching for its deficient past! Do not stand and wonder, for the explosion that turned your city to rubble was neither coincidence nor mere accident. It was your truth that you have tried so long to hide. A city handed over to thieves to violate, a city where the authority of idiots holds sway and which has been ripped apart by warlords working for foreign powers.

A city that exploded because it lay prone on the bed of its drawn-out death agonies.

Don’t ask the city who killed it. Those who killed it were those who rule it. Beirut knows this, and all of you know it.

The killers of the city are the ones who tried to kill the 17 October Revolution by forming a government of technocratic puppets and who unleashed the dogs of repression on the streets.

The killers of the city are the communal party Mafias that took the country over and proclaimed the civil war ended by converting its menacing ghost into a political regime.

The killers of the city are the ones who elected Michel Aoun as president, converting the catastrophe created by oligarchy into farce.

Your city—our city—is dying. Twenty-seven hundred tons of ammonium nitrate, confiscated and placed in the port six years ago, exploded, and the flesh of its children was scattered. What monstrous nonchalance and stupidity!

In the past, the warlords of the civil war buried chemical wastes in our mountains. Today we discover that the nonchalance of these same warlords, who have transformed themselves into the Mafia bosses of this era that they declared to be that of “national peace,” has allowed Beirut to be smashed to pieces by something approaching an atomic bomb.

They sit on thrones fashioned from the bones of our dead, our poverty, and our hunger.

Hyenas! Are you not yet done with tearing our corpses apart?

Be gone! The time has come for you to be gone! Leave us be with our country that you have dragged into the abyss! Go to the Caribbean with its islands and its ocean, to which you have smuggled the people’s wealth and property so that you can live in luxury there!

Are you not yet done?

Your death knell has struck. Our death, and the torment in our hearts, have today become the weapon with which we shall face the coming days of darkness and humiliation.

We shall face you with our charred corpses and with our bleeding faces, and you will drown with us in the abyss of this destruction.

Listen well! Beirut has blown us apart to proclaim your demise, not ours.

Beirut is not its past. Beirut is its present. It bleeds blood, not honor. Stop talking! Shut up! Nothing you have to say concerns us. We want just one thing from you, to be gone.

Go—you, and the bankers, and everyone else who has gambled with our lives all the way to Hell!

Then we shall bind Beirut’s wounds. We shall tell our city that it will return to us, poor but joyful. Its soul shall be renewed, and, though weakened by its wounds, it will hold us tight to its pain and wipe away the tears from our eyes.

The time of the bastards who have ruled our lives for so long is over!

We don’t want your masters’ oil, we don’t believe your mullahs, and we don’t give a damn about your sects!

Take your sects with you and get out of our way!

The young women and men of the 17 October uprising must know that the time for total revolution has come.

Arise, and let us take vengeance for Beirut!

Arise, and build a homeland for yourselves from the ruins!

Arise, and redraw Beirut in the ink of its children’s blood!

—Translated by Humphrey Davies

Humphrey Davies received the 2010 Prize for Arabic Literary Translation for his translation of Elias Khoury’s Yalo. In addition to translating Khoury novels, Davies has also translated Naguib Mahfouz’s Thebes at War, Alaa al-Aswany’s The Yacoubian Building, and Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq’s Leg over Leg.

Elias Khoury was born in Beirut. His Gate of the Sun received the Palestian Prize and was named Best Book of the Year by Le Monde Diplomatique, the San Francisco Chronicle, and a Notable Book by the New York Times. Laila Lalami wrote in the Los Angeles Book Review: “the beautiful, resilient city of Beirut belongs to Khoury.” He encourages donations to the Lebanese Red Cross. 

(Source: The Paris Review)

The Syrian town with more cats than people

After months of intensive bombing by Syrian and Russian forces, the town of Kafr Nabl in Syria's last rebel-held province is now home to more cats than people. Humans and felines now provide comfort to one another in hard times, writes the BBC's Mike Thomson.

Crouched beneath a table in the corner of his rubble strewn basement, a man shelters from the barrage of bombs above. But 32-year-old Salah Jaar (pictured above) is not alone. Huddled beside him are half a dozen assorted cats, all as petrified as he is.

"It's comforting when the cats are close," he tells me. "'It makes the bombardment, the demolition, the suffering, seem much less frightening."

Salah's home town, Kafr Nabl, was once home to more than 40,000 people, but fewer than 100 remain. It's hard to guess how many cats there are - certainly hundreds, possibly thousands.

"So many people have left Kafr Nabl that the population has become very small. The cats need somebody to care for them and give them food and water, so they've taken refuge in the homes of those who've stayed. Each house now has about 15 cats, sometimes even more," Salah says.

Salah still works as a news reporter for the local radio station, Fresh FM, even though its original studios were reduced to rubble in a recent air strike. Fortunately the station's operations had been moved, just before that, to a safer town nearby.

The radio station, which broadcast warning of bombing raids as well as news, comedy and phone-in programmes, was popular with cats as well as people. Dozens made their home there. Its founder, the remarkable activist, Raed Fares, killed by Islamist gunmen in November 2018, even allocated a special allowance for them, to buy them milk and cheese.

"Many cats were born in the building. One of them, who was white with brown spots, developed a special affinity with Raed. She would go everywhere with him and even sleep by his side," Salah says.

As he leaves what remains of his shattered house, he is greeted by a near-deafening cacophony of mews coming from every direction, some light and melodious, others screeching and desperate. This happens to everyone, he says.

"Sometimes when we're walking in the street there are about 20 and maybe even 30 cats walking with us the whole way. Some of them even come home with us."

When darkness falls the barks and whines of numerous stray dogs add to the nocturnal soundscape. They too are hungry and homeless. Their nightly scavenging for food and a place to sleep brings them into competition with Kafr Nabl's cats. Outmuscled though they may be, Salah insists that there's usually only one winner in these regular confrontations.

"It's the cats of course! There are so many more of them."

Most of them were until recently much loved pets of families who fled the town soon after pro-regime forces launched efforts to retake Idlib last April. Now, deprived of TLC and regular meals, they have had to find new homes among the rubble.

And even though people like Salah can no longer be sure of staying alive, never mind where their next meal is coming from, it seems there is always a place at the table for his four-legged friends.

"Whenever I eat, they eat, whether it's vegetables, noodles or just dried bread. In this situation I feel that we're both weak creatures and need to help each other," he says.

It is not surprising, given the constant bombing, that cats often get injured, along with everyone else. Again, despite the shortages of medicines and just about everything else, Salah says every effort is made to care for them.

"I have a friend who has cats in his house. One of them was hit by a rocket which almost blew his front paw off. But we managed to get it to Idlib city for treatment and it's now walking around as well as before," he says.

With President Bashar al-Assad's forces now not far from Kafr Nabl, the town looks likely to be overrun before soon. Salah admits to being worried, not just for himself and his friends, but for the town's feline population.

Kafr Nabl today

"We've shared the good times and the bad, the joy and the pain and the many, many fears. They have become our partners in life," he says.

And he insists that if the worst happens and he and others are forced to flee Kafr Nabl, they'll take many of the cats with them.

Amid all the horrors of war, it seems a close bond has been formed between people and pets that will not be easily broken.

(Source: BBC)

Iranian MP claims Islamic Republic has power to 'attack the White House'

Donald Trump has prompted further condemnation after he threatened to strike 52 targets, some apparently civilian sites, if Iran retaliates over the US assassination of military commander Qassem Soleimani.

As bombs fell near the US embassy in Baghdad, the US president was labelled a “monster” and accused of plotting war crimes after promising swift retribution at high level targets “important to Iranian culture”.

Meanwhile, the Iranian parliament opened with politicians chanting “death to America”, as Iraq also held an emergency session in the face of pressure to expel the thousands of US troops stationed there to prevent an Isis resurgence.

"We can attack the White House itself, we can respond to them on the American soil. We have the power, and God willing we will respond in an appropriate time," said Abolfazl Abutorabi, a hardline MP, according to Iranian news agency ILNA .

The hardline lawmaker urged Iran "should crush America's teeth" in response to a question on whether and how the Islamic Republic would react to the US assassination of Qassem Soleimani, in a furious parliamentary session held on Sunday. 

"This is a declaration of war, which means if you hesitate you lose," Mr Abutorabi added. "When someone declares war do you want to respond to the bullets with flowers? They will shoot you in the head."

The Independent's international correspondent, Borzou Daragahi, said the MP was an obscure lawmaker known for making incendiary remarks and suggested the claims should be treated with a large dose of scepticism.

He said Iran was not believed to have any missiles capable of reaching Washington DC, and an individual suicide attack would likely be the only realistic means of Tehran targeting the capital.

Any significant military action by Iran would have to be vetted and approved by its Supreme National Security Council, a body that includes Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani, and the leaders of the various branches of government and armed forces.

Mr Abutorabi also echoed previous suggestions that Iran could target ships in the Strait of Hormuz, where the Royal Navy was sent yesterday to escort ships.

"There are tens of thousands of possibilities for us to respond. Responding to the Americans in open waters does not pose any problem for us in terms of international regulations. We can take our revenge inside Iraq or in open waters."

(Source: Independent)

Bangkok capital hit by six bomb blasts at different locations as it hosts Asean security summit, police say

PM condemns 'those causing the situation which destroys peace and damages the country's image'

Police in Bangkok say at least six bomb blasts went off at a number of locations in the city on Friday, as the Thai capital hosted a key regional security summit.

A seventh device was recovered unexploded, officials said, as the Thai prime minister ordered an urgent investigation to find the perpetrators.

Four people were injured in the blasts, none seriously, according to a central medical facility. Images from one bomb site showed three street cleaners looking dazed and getting treatment from medics.

The first two explosions took place near metro stations in the city centre, just before 9am during the morning rush-hour. The fourth injury occurred in a blast near the 77-storey King Power Mahanakhon tower, one of the tallest buildings in the city.

And shortly afterwards, a blast was heard at a government complex housing several ministries in the northern part of the city. There has been no claim of responsibility.

"I would like to condemn those causing the situation which destroys peace and damages the country's image," said prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Twitter.

"I have instructed officials to take care of public safety and those affected promptly."

Deputy prime minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters that police had arrested two suspects, and accused the bombers of trying to "create a situation".

On Thursday police had found two fake bombs near the venue of the meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The meeting was not interrupted.

China's top diplomat Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are among the regional and global representatives attending the forum.

It was not immediately clear whether the bombings were designed to target the summit, or if they were linked to Thailand's recent democratic election, in which the country's military junta formally gave up power - but coup general Prayuth remained in office.

Analysts say the use of small, generally harmless bombs is a not uncommon part of the Thai political scene, often characterised by power struggles between factions within the country's highly politicised security forces.

Bombings are usually blamed on those in opposition at the time, though substantial arrests are rarely made. 

(Source: Independent)

Sri Lanka bans all types of face covers including burqa after Easter Sunday bombings

The decision to ban all types of burqas and face covers was approved by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena after several bombs ripped through the island nation on April 21. 

Almost a week after a series of bomb blasts ripped through three Sri Lankan cities, government authorities on Sunday ordered a complete prohibition on all types of face covers including burqas.

The decision to ban all types of burqas and face covers was approved by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena after several bombs ripped through the island nation on April 21.

The information was conveyed late on Sunday via an official press release. The release said: "Any form of face covering that will hinder the identification of a person is banned under emergency regulations."

"A decision has been taken by the president to ban all forms of face covering that will hinder easy identification under emergency regulations," it added.

Sri Lankan authorities on Sunday banned all types of face covers including burqa after the serial bombings on April 21. (Photo: Reuters)

The move to ban face covers, burqas and masks comes after a Sri Lankan parliamentarian submitted a private members' motion for the same.

In fact, an organisation of Muslim clerics named All Cetlon Jamiyyathul Ulama also asked women to avoid wearing a burqa/niqab in order to help security forces.

Earlier in the day, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe also said that he was not against the ban on burqa. A situation of emergency has been declared in the island nation since the bombings that claimed over 250 lives, including some Indians.

At least 500 people were injured in the serial bombings as well. While the move is expected to make lives easier for the security personnel, not all from the Muslim community in the island nation may be happy with the fresh decision.

Earlier in the day, India Today TV reported that many Muslims across Sri Lanka are already concerned about their safety as they are being targeted by mobs.

While many Muslim women in the country have stopped wearing the bura, some have stopped sending out their children to play.

The bombings on April 21 came as a shock to the island nation, especially becuase the attack occured on Easter.

Sri Lanka has blamed local terror outfit National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) for the attack, adding that the organisation was backed by the Islamic State.

At least 9 suicide bombers were responsible for the deadliest attack in Sri Lanka in a decade. Three churches and three five-star hotels were primarily targeted in the attacks.

(Source: India Today)

Sri Lanka told of extremist network months before blasts – sources

Foreign agencies warned officials of terrorist threat four months ago

Sri Lankan authorities were told by foreign security agencies more than four months ago that a network of violent Islamic extremists was active in the country and likely to commit terrorist attacks, regional and western officials have said.

The revelation that officials may have known last year about the threat posed by those responsible for the Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 350 people will fuel outrage at what now appears to be multiple and systematic intelligence failings.

On Wednesday, President Maithripala Sirisena demanded the resignation of senior officials who failed to pass on three separate formal warnings sent by Indian agencies in the three weeks before the attack.

The sources said these formal warnings followed months of informal conversations between Indian investigators and their Sri Lankan counterparts in which details of the network, including the identities of its leader and members, were passed on.

Sirisena has already called for a massive security overhaul after the failure to prevent one of the most deadly terrorist attacks of recent years.

Sarath Fonseka, a Sri Lankan field marshall and politician, told parliament the attack appeared to have been “seven or eight months in the making” and exposed a “monumental lapse in intelligence gathering”.

“In any other country, the entire government would have had to resign for making a mess of things like this, but it won’t happen here,” he said. “Security has become a joke.”

The Indian information was gathered from a huge haul of data seized during raids on suspected Islamic State sympathisers in November, as well as their subsequent interrogation.

 A Sri Lankan woman sits next to the grave of a family member in Katuwapitiya village, Negombo. Photograph: Eranga Jayawardena/AP

Large number of phones, discs and USB keys collected in the raids revealed links between detainees and Mohammed Zahran Hashim, the suspected leader of the Sri Lankan terrorist network responsible for the bombings, security officials told the Guardian.

A surveillance operation then revealed the radical cleric, who was already known to Sri Lankan security services, repeatedly contacted known Isis activists in Bangladesh. According to some reports, Hashim was also in touch with militants in eastern Afghanistan linked to Isis.

Isis has claimed responsibility for the bombings, believed to be the most lethal ever conducted by the group.

Indian officials increased their informal warnings to the Sri Lankans after explosives were found on a remote farm at a national park in north-west Sri Lanka. Hashimi’s network was linked to the cache. They were not aware at that time of any plot to target churches or hotels, the sources said.

It is not clear why Delhi waited until April to issue a formal communication about the threat.

On Wednesday, the death toll from the attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels in and around the capital, Colombo, rose to 359, with 500 injured.

Despite the scale of the ongoing security operation, Sri Lanka’s prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, said several suspects armed with explosives had yet to be found.

He said there were more explosives and militants “out there”, and confirmed reports there had been a failed attack against a fourth major hotel, and that the Indian embassy was also a possible target.

One of the suspects was identified on Wednesday as Abdul Lathief Jameel Mohamed, after Sri Lanka’s defence minister said a suspect had studied in the UK and Australia. British counter-terrorism investigators said they believed Mohamed attended a university in south-east England from 2006-07, and they were searching for any associates or signs of extremist activity during his time in the UK.

Eighteen suspects were arrested overnight, bringing the total number detained to more than 60.

Up to nine people directly linked to the attack could still be at large, sources involved in the investigation said. Officials said authorities expected to make further arrests in the coming days.

The exact role of Isis in the attacks is yet to be established. It is possible the group’s involvement reorientated Hashim’s network away from bombs directed at destroying major Buddhist monuments and towards targets more closely associated with its global jihadist ideology.

Hashimi could be seen in a video released by Isis on Tuesday after it claimed responsibility. Dressed in a black tunic and headscarf and carrying a rifle, the cleric is seen leading a group of men, said to be Sunday’s attackers, in a pledge of allegiance to the leader of Isis, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

An image grab from a press release issued by the Isis agency Amaq allegedly shows men who carried out the bombings. The man in the centre is believed to be Hashim. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Western and south Asian officials said Hashmi had started a group of extremists in a small village in eastern Sri Lanka, attracting disaffected young men. The middle-aged cleric travelled overseas about two years ago, possibly to the Maldives, which has become a hub of Islamist activism in recent years. Security agencies followed Hashim’s online extremist activism closely and were concerned he could develop links to either al-Qaida or Isis.

Islamic State’s Amaq news agency also published a statement saying its “fighters” were responsible and listed the names of the suicide bombers.

The funerals of those killed in the blasts continued in Negombo and Colombo on Wednesday, as a social media ban and state of emergency remained in place across the country.

(Source: The Guardian)

Sri Lanka attacks: Who are the victims?

Sri Lanka is in shock after a wave of bombings targeting churches and hotels left at least 321 people dead and about 500 injured. Churches were hit during Easter Sunday services in the cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa.

Most of those killed are Sri Lankan nationals but officials say at least 38 foreigners are among the dead - including British, Indian, Danish, Dutch, Swiss, Spanish, Australian and Turkish nationals.

The government temporarily restricted some social media networks to try to halt the spread of misinformation, so details were initially slow to emerge.

But this is what we know so far about those who lost their lives.

Shantha Mayadunne, a Sri Lankan celebrity chef, and her daughter Nisanga
One of the first victims to have been identified was Sri Lankan celebrity chef Shantha Mayadunne.

Her daughter Nisanga Mayadunne had posted a picture of the family having breakfast in the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo shortly before the explosion there.

One of their family members later posted on Facebook confirming that both Shantha and Nisanga had died, saying "no words can describe the pain".

Yesterday we lost my beautiful aunty Shantha Mayadunne (3rd from right) and cousin Nisanga Mayadunne (furthest right) to terrorist attacks at the Shangri-La in Colombo. No words can describe the pain. They were the most loving family anyone could ask for and I will always be grateful for having them in my life. Rest in peace. We love you.

Four Sri Lankan servers at the Cinnamon Grand hotel
Four Sri Lankan staff members at the Taprobane restaurant in the Cinnamon Grand hotel died in the attacks.

"It was a busy morning. It's Sunday morning during buffet breakfast so it's one of our busiest periods," the Cinnamon Grand hotel spokesman told the BBC.

"They were servers at the restaurant. One of them was working at the live food stations making hoppers [a Sri Lankan pancake]."

They have been identified only as Shantha, Sanjeewani, Ibrahim and Nisthar.

Three staff members at the Shangri-La
The Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo announced in a Facebook statement that three of its staff were "fatally injured in the course of their duties".

No further details are known so far.

Asos billionaire's children
Three children of Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen died in the attacks, a spokesman has confirmed to the BBC. The company was unable to reveal any more details at this time and asked for the family's privacy to be respected.

One of his children had four days ago posted a picture on Instagram that was geo-tagged Sri Lanka.

Mr Povlsen, 46, owns the Bestseller clothing chain and is the largest stakeholder in the hugely popular online retailer Asos.

Eight British nationals
The deaths were confirmed by the UK's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, James Dauris.

Three family members were among the victims.

Anita Nicholson and her children Alex and Annabel were among the victims

Ben Nicholson said that his wife Anita, his 14-year-old son Alex and 11-year-old daughter Annabel were killed in the restaurant of the Shangri-La Hotel.

"Mercifully, all three of them died instantly and with no pain or suffering," Mr Nicholson said in a statement.

"I am deeply distressed at the loss of my wife and children. Anita was a wonderful, perfect wife and a brilliant, loving and inspirational mother to our two wonderful children.

"The holiday we had just enjoyed was a testament to Anita's enjoyment of travel and providing a rich and colourful life for our family, and especially our children.

"Alex and Annabel were the most amazing, intelligent, talented and thoughtful children and Anita and I were immensely proud of them both and looking forward to seeing them develop into adulthood."

Mr Nicholson also asked the media to "respect our privacy and allow us to grieve together".

Ten Indians, including seven from a political party
Ten Indian nationals, some of whom were political party workers from Bangalore, died in the bombings.

The party workers have been identified as K G Hanumantharayappa, M Rangappa, K M Laxminarayan, Lakshmana Gowda Ramesh, H Shivakumar, A Maregowda and H Puttaraju. They were all members of the Janata Dal Party (JDP).

The JDP workers were on holiday in Sri Lanka after polling for the Lok Sabha elections ended in the state on 18 April.

The chief minister of the Indian state of Karnataka, H D Kumaraswami said in a tweet that he had known some of the party workers personally, adding that he was "deeply pained".

All victims were #JDS workers from Karnataka and were on a tour to #SriLanka. I am deeply pained at the loss of their lives in the heinous attack. They were also committed workers of our party and their death has brought immense sorrow to us.

— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) 22 April 2019

The Indian High Commission also identified two more Indian nationals as Vemurai Tulsiram and SR Nagaraj.

Another Indian, Razeena Khader Kukkady was killed in the same blast.

The 58-year-old, who was originally from Kerala, lived in Dubai with her husband but travelled to Colombo to meet her relatives.

He left for Dubai on Sunday morning and she was due to leave Colombo on a later flight on the same day.

But she was killed shortly after checking out of the Shangri-La hotel.

"Her life was just snubbed out in a few hours," her brother-in-law Usman Kukkady told news outlet the New Indian Express.

The couple have a son and daughter who are both living in the US, said the news outlet.

Turkish engineers Serhan Selcuk Narici and Yigit Ali Cavus
Two Turkish nationals were killed, state news agency Anadolu reported.

Engineer Serhan Selcuk Narici moved to Colombo in March 2017, according to his Facebook profile.

His father, Baba Memhet Narici, told Anadolu that his son was an electrical engineer. He had last been doing some work at the US embassy building in Sri Lanka.

"He sent me a WhatsApp message this morning at 5am saying 'Good Morning'", said Mr Narici. "That was the last I heard from him."

The other victim - Yigit Ali Cavus - was also an engineer.

"He was a brilliant child. He graduated with honours from the Istanbul Technical University and spoke two languages," said his father.

It is not yet clear where they were when the attacks took place.

Australian mother and daughter
An Australian mother and her 10-year-old daughter were killed during the Easter Sunday service at St Sebastian Church, in Negombo city.

Manik Suriaaratchi and daughter Alexandria attended the church every Sunday, along with her husband Sudesh Kolonne.

The mother and daughter attended church every Sunday at St Sebastian

He had just walked out of church ahead of them when the bomb went off.

"I heard a huge noise ... I saw my daughter on the floor and I tried to lift her up, [but] she was already dead. And [then]... next my wife is there," Mr Kolonne told news outlet ABC.

The family had moved from Melbourne to Sri Lanka in 2014 after Ms Suriaaratchi started a business in the country.

The grandson of a Bangladeshi politician
The grandson of Bangladeshi MP Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim has been killed in the attacks.

Mr Selim's grandson - who is himself a prominent member of the Awami League political party - died in an explosion in the hotel where the family was staying, according to local media reports. It is not clear which hotel this was.

Mr Selim's personal assistant told news outlet the Dhaka Tribune that the boy's father was also injured in the blast.

Rui Lucas, Portuguese electrical engineer
Rui Lucas was on honeymoon with his wife, Portuguese media report. They had been married just over a week.

Mr Lucas, believed to be in his early 30s, died in the attack on the Kingsbury Hotel, where the newlyweds were staying. His wife survived the attack.

He has been described by one of his work colleagues as "a person with a huge heart, a great friend", Portugal's publico.pt website reports.

Monique Allen, Dutch national
Monique Allen was on holiday with her three sons and husband Lewis when the Cinnamon Grand hotel was bombed.

She was having breakfast downstairs with one of her sons. Her husband and two of her other sons were in their room. The rest of her family members survived the attack.

Monique Allen was on holiday with her family in Sri Lanka

"My son and my wife were sitting right next to each other [when] the explosion happened," Mr Allen told the BBC.

"[He] blacked out for a few minutes and he woke up and saw his mother with a big head wound and lots of blood."

Mr Lewis found his son injured at his hospital and only later found his wife when he checked the mortuary.

"[At the mortuary] they were pulling back sheet after sheet. I was praying let that not be Monique," he said.

"Then they lifted the sheet on one and that was my wife there... she was the best wife and the best mother."

Dieter Kowalski from the US state of Colorado
Forty-year-old Dieter Kowalski, a Denver resident, was in Sri Lanka on a work trip. On Friday, he had posted on Facebook: "And the fun begins. Love these work trips. 24 hours of flying. See you soon Sri Lanka!"

Mr Kowalski worked for Pearson, an education management company, as a senior technical operations lead. The company confirmed to NBC News on Monday that Mr Kowalski had been killed shortly after he arrived at the Cinnamon Grand hotel.

"Colleagues who knew Dieter well talk about how much fun he was to be around, how big-hearted and full-spirited he was," Pearson chief executive John Fallon wrote in a letter to employees.

Mr Kowalski's brother, Derrick, also shared on Facebook: "We have all lost a brother today."

A Washington DC elementary school student
Kieran Shafritz de Zoysa, a fifth grade student at the prestigious Sidwell Friends school in Washington, was one of four Americans killed.

Kieran had been on leave for the year in Sri Lanka, the Washington Post reported.

"Kieran was passionate about learning, he adored his friends, and he was incredibly excited about returning to Sidwell Friends this coming school year," the school said in a letter to families.

Meanwhile, a state department official was quoted by US media as saying that at least four American nationals were killed in the attacks.

(Source: BBC)

Sri Lanka bombings: Isis claims responsibility for deadly church and hotel attacks on Easter Sunday

Isis used generic wording for claim and did not offer any evidence 

Isis has claimed responsibility for bombings that left more than 300 people dead in Sri Lanka.

In a statement released by its Amaq propaganda agency, the group said it was targeting citizens of countries bombings its territories and Christians.

“A security source told Amaq agency the perpetrators of the attack targeting the citizens of [US-led] coalition countries and Christians in Sri Lanka were Islamic State fighters,” it said.

The wording of Isis's claim is similar to that for previous atrocities that were thought to be inspired by the group but not directly orchestrated by it.

The statement contained no further information or evidence.

It came after Isis supporters circulated unverified photographs claiming to show three of the suicide bombers who targeted churches and hotels on Easter Sunday.

They showed the men posing with a knife and guns in front of Isis’s black flag, captioned with the names Abul Muktar, Abu Ubaida and Abul Barra.

Sri Lankan authorities had attributed the atrocities to a little-known local Islamist group called National Thowheed Jama’ath, which was previously known for vandalising Buddhist statues.

But the president asked for foreign assistance to track down the bombers’ international links on Monday, because of intelligence reports “indicating that foreign terrorist organisations are behind the local terrorists”.

The targeting of churches and hotels popular with foreign tourists is a technique recently used by Isis and al-Qaeda affiliates.

But attacks organised or coordinated by Isis have been claimed faster, with detail, and sometimes seen the group put out gory videos and footage from the scene.

Isis released its claim shortly after Sri Lanka’s defence minister said the attacks were “carried out in retaliation” for shootings that left 50 Muslims dead at mosques in New Zealand last month.

Ruwan Wijewardene did not explain the source of the information but blamed “weakness” within Sri Lanka's security apparatus for failing to prevent the nine bombings.

“By now it has been established that the intelligence units were aware of this attack and a group of responsible people were informed about the impending attack,” he added after a letter warning security services was leaked online. “However, this information has been circulated among only a few officials.”

Isis issued a call for its followers to “take vengeance” for the Christchurch attacks in an audio recording from its official spokesman last month.

“The scenes of death in the two mosques are enough to wake the sleep and incite the supporters of the caliphate who live there, to take vengeance for their religion and for sons of their Ummah, who are killed everywhere in the world,” it said.

Experts had warned that the Christchurch massacre could be used for “reciprocal radicalisation”, which sees Islamists justify their attacks using Western air strikes and far-right atrocities, and the far-right justify their attacks using Islamist terrorism.

At the time, security services said they feared a “domino effect” in atrocities as Isis sought publicity and momentum following the destruction of its caliphate.

Sri Lankan militants were among the foreigners who travelled to fight for the group in Iraq and Syria.

National Thowheed Jama’ath’s leader, known as Mohammed Zahran or Zahran Hashmi, became known three years ago for incendiary speeches posted online that called for non-Muslims to be eliminated.

Weeks before the attacks, National Thowheed Jama’ath was named in a police advisory to security services warning of a potential threat to Catholic churches.

Telecommunications minister Harin Fernando posted images of the letter, entitled “information on an alleged plan attack” and detailing names and other details, on Twitter.

He called for “serious action” on why the atrocities were not prevented and the prime minister launched an inquiry.

Zahran was personally named in the warning and some international security experts said they had been asked about the group's activity.

Anne Speckhard, director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism, said a Sri Lankan intelligence official approached her at a February conference with concerns about a violent, homegrown jihadi group.

Ms Speckhard said the official feared militants that “would just disappear” when the government tried to crack down on them.

“The intel person kind of came up to me and said, 'You know, we're kind of worried about this new group and there's some activity going. What do you think?'" Speckhard told the Associated Press. “It just kind of blows my mind that's who it was.”

While Sri Lanka is no stranger to sectarian violence, following a 25-year civil war with Tamil separatists that raged until 2009, Islamists have previously been considered a lesser threat than other groups.

Amarnath Amarasingam, a senior research fellow with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, pointed out that recent new year celebrations and Buddhist religious events passed off safely.

“If this were local Muslim extremist groups who wanted to retaliate against anti-Muslim attacks by Buddhists, I think the targeting would have been a bit different,” he wrote on Twitter.

A total of nine bombings on Sunday killed at least 321 people and injured more than 500.

Sri Lankan officials said two people were involved in the attack at the Shangri-La hotel.

One bomber each attacked the Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury hotels, and St Anthony's Shrine in Colombo, St Sebastian's church in the city of Negombo and Zion Church in the city of Batticaloa.

Two bombings hours later at a guesthouse and near an overpass on the outskirts of Colombo are still under investigation.

Suspects detonated explosives at a safe house near the overpass blast as police closed in, killing three officers.

(Source: Independent)

Sri Lanka attacks: St Anthony's 'church of miracles' a symbol of hope

St Anthony's Church, the site of one of the deadliest Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, is renowned as a place of worship open to all faiths, but the attacks have shut its doors for now.

For the first time in its 175-year history, people are being turned away.

The road to the shrine in Colombo's Kochchikade district is a familiar one to many, who - regardless of their religion - would regularly come here to seek blessings.

Despite being a predominantly Roman Catholic church, its patron has acquired a reputation for being a "miracle worker". No request, no matter how large, small or strangely specific, is left unanswered by St Anthony, people say.

On Monday, however, a day after the bomb blast ripped through its entrance, things are very different. The attack here was one of eight across the country which killed 310 people and injured many more.

Police are fanned out near the turn-off to the church, marked by its distinctive large statue of St Anthony, mounted on a pedestal. The perimeter of the church itself has been cordoned off with yellow tape and is being guarded by armed security officers.

Security has been stepped up across the country in the wake of the attacks

Despite this, a sizeable crowd is still gathered outside, veering as close to the perimeter as they dare, most just staring at the large white building. From a distance it looks untouched, but look harder and hints of the carnage that took place inside become more visible.

Near its entrance, half hidden by a wall, you can see bits of rubble and shards of glass. The clock on its left tower is frozen at 8.45 - the time the blast took place.

There were so many casualties here because such a large crowd had gathered. Even on a normal day, the church is filled with worshippers. For Easter Mass, the chief priest thought well over 1,000 people were in the congregation.

Scores are thought to have been killed at St Anthony's - it's not clear yet how many lost their lives.

Among those gathered outside the church is Prabath Buddhika. Although Mr Buddhika is Buddhist by religion, like many others, he is a strong believer in the power of St Anthony.

"My house is right here," he said, adding that he'd been attending the church since he was a child and gone along with his family many times.

Like many others, Mr Buddhika ran to the church after hearing the explosions. The carnage he saw there could not be described, he says, but people fearlessly came forward from around the area in order to help.

Among them was Peter Michael Fernando, a Catholic who lives close to the church. He was asleep when the blast occurred, he says, waking up after his "bed shook" with the force of the explosion. He ran towards the church after seeing plumes of smoke rising into the sky.

"There were bodies and parts of bodies everywhere. I saw there were two people who were still alive so I helped them to an ambulance. I was weeping."

Mr Fernando says what stayed with him was the number of children he saw among the dead and injured. "They were screaming, they were bleeding. We tried to help as many as we could. I carried a little girl into one of the vans - she had lost a leg," he said, breaking down again.

A little distance away stands Anuja Subasinghe, a nurse. She has been staring at the church for a long time.

"This church is for those who carry unbearable sadness - it gives them solace," she says with tears in her eyes. "Who would do something like this? Why would they do this?"

She couldn't come for Sunday's Easter Mass because she had to report for duty, but on Monday morning she felt she needed to be there for the church.

"My husband died 12 years ago and the only thing that got me through that terrible tragedy was this church," she says. "I didn't need any other man. St Anthony was enough for me."

Like Mr Buddhika, Ms Subasinghe was born a Buddhist, but converted to Christianity after discovering the church.

So what is it about this church and St Anthony in particular that has captured the imagination of so many people?

According to Father Leo Perera, a parish priest who serves nearby, part of it is to do with the fact St Anthony's Church has always been associated with miracles.

In fact, its very origin has been attributed to one.

According to local legend and the written history of the archdiocesan archives, St Anthony's Church was built by a priest from Cochin in southern India, named Father Antonio. He secretly practised Catholicism during the Dutch rule of Colombo in the 18th Century, although it had been named a proscribed religion.

He was able to build the church, the legend says, after performing a miracle. The locals had come to him in panic after seeing the sea rising and asked him to pray for it to recede. He did, and the sea not only receded, but a sand bank suddenly emerged from the waters. So he planted a cross there and built a small mud church, in which he remained until his death.

The other reason, Father Leo says, is the fact that many people have testified that the church has answered prayers and restored faith.

"Everyone who goes there comes away with the happy feeling that their prayers have been heard," he said, adding that on special celebratory feast days, the church was always full of grateful people who had come to give offerings as thanks for having their prayers heard.

But what next, I ask him? Will the attacks erode people's faith in the power of this church?

"Absolutely not," he says with emotion.

"You cannot keep people away from here just because of something like this. They will keep coming back because this is the time they want the presence of God in their life. There is no way this will affect the power of this church and the faith of its believers."

This sentiment is echoed by Mr Buddhika.

"This is no ordinary church. Whoever did this didn't know what they were messing with - they cannot simply get away with something like this.

"They will pay for this over generations."

And this is because St Anthony's is so much more than just a place of worship. It is a symbol of Sri Lanka's plurality and tolerance. A reminder that in a country, still bruised by the memories of a brutal civil war and inter-religious violence, its diverse communities have traditionally lived together peacefully and embraced each other's beliefs and differences.

That perhaps explains why so many of them still came together to stand in front of the church, to express sadness and horror at what took place within.

In its darkest hour, the church continues to be a symbol of hope - with many Sri Lankans choosing to stand together despite the hatred that has unfolded among them.

(Source: BBC)