On Easter day, many gatherings were hosted at churches to remember the reason people celebrate this holiday. Sadly, many of these people didn’t leave these churches alive. On Easter day a total of 3 churches and 3 luxury hotels were bombed, all of which were located in the commercial capital of Colombo. Over 320 people have been reported dead and the toll is still rising.

The attacks were mostly suicide bombings and are thought to have been retaliation for the the shooting and killing of 50 people, most of them Muslim, at a mosque in New Zealand last month. It is reported that the Sri Lankan government was aware there may be an attack coming as they had received many threats but decided to do nothing. Sri Lanka’s president responds to these accusations saying, “I must be truthful and admit that there were lapses on the part of defense officials.” The Sri Lankan president has gone as far as asking defense department officials to resign.

It was found that one of the suicide bombers was jailed at one point before the bombing and later released by officials. Which was also said to be a fail on the part of defense officials. Many other people have been arrested for having been connected to the bombings and the country has taken actions to find the perpetrators of the bombings. In fact the country has gone as far as to ban the covering on the face, religious reasons or otherwise, in an effort to catch the criminals.

The country will recover though, the country is looking for better defense officials to keep them safe. The grief the friends and families of the victims are experiencing is quickly turning into anger and righteousness as the country ready’s to bring justice to it’s fallen citizens.