COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — The toll from a string of deadly suicide bomb attacks in Sri Lanka has risen to 310, with several people dying of their injuries overnight, a police spokesman said Tuesday. Around 500 people were wounded in the blasts, Ruwan Gunasekera said in a statement. He added that 40 people were now under arrest in connection with the attacks, which Sri Lanka’s government has blamed on a previously little-known local Islamist […]
Tag: Attack
Eight arrested in connection with Sri Lanka blasts: PM
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Eight people have been arrested in connection with a string of deadly blasts that killed more than 200 people in Sri Lanka on Sunday, the country’s prime minister said. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said “so far the names that have come up are local,” but that investigators would look into whether the attackers had any “overseas links”. He also acknowledged that “information was there” about possible attacks. “While this goes […]
Palace to Ressa: Don’t use press freedom to attack gov’t, just defend yourself in court
(Eagle News) — The Palace on Friday, March 29, urged Rappler’s chief executive officer Maria Ressa to stop using press freedom as an excuse to attack the administration and to just defend herself in court. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued the statement after Ressa called her arrest for the charge of violation of the Anti-Dummy Law a type of “harassment.” “She’s charged of a crime and there is a determination of probable cause hence a […]
New Zealand orders top-level inquiry into mosque massacres
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday ordered an independent judicial inquiry into the Christchurch mosque attacks, asking whether police and intelligence services could have prevented the March 15 attack. Ardern said a royal commission — the most powerful judicial probe available under New Zealand law — was needed to find out how a single gunman was able to kill 50 people in an attack that shocked the world. […]
NZ to hold national remembrance for Christchurch next Friday
New Zealand will hold a national remembrance service on March 29 for the victims of the Christchurch mosque massacre and their families, the prime minister’s office announced on Sunday. The interfaith service will take place in Christchurch two weeks after an Australian white supremacist shot and killed 50 Muslims who had arrived for Friday prayers at two mosques in the city on March 15. “The national remembrance service provides an opportunity for Cantabrians (Christchurch-area residents), […]
Emotional Muslims return to Christchurch mosque as NZ works to move on
by Chris Foley / Glenda Kwek Agence France Presse CHRISTCHURCH,New Zealand (AFP) — Muslims held emotional prayers inside Christchurch’s main mosque on Saturday for the first time since a white supremacist massacred worshippers there, as New Zealand sought to return to normality after the tragedy. The Al Noor mosque had been taken over by police for investigations and security reasons after alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant gunned down Muslims gathered there and at a smaller […]
New Zealand falls silent, a week after mosque massacres
by Jerome TAYLOR The Muslim call to prayer rang out across New Zealand on Friday followed by two minutes of nationwide silence to mark a week since a white supremacist gunned down 50 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch. As the call was broadcast around the country, thousands — including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and wounded survivors — stood in a park opposite the mosque where the killing began, as the nation […]
Wrong victim named in initial NZ gunman charge document: police
New Zealand police on Thursday admitted that the person they originally charged suspected mosques gunman Brenton Tarrant with murdering is actually still alive. “An error was made in the charging document prepared for the first court appearance of the man charged with murder in relation to the Christchurch terror attacks,” a police spokesman told AFP. “The error saw an incorrect victim name included in the charging document.” Tarrant appeared in court Saturday on the first […]
Police probe attacks on four mosques in Birmingham
Four mosques in the central English city of Birmingham have been attacked overnight, with a man wielding a sledgehammer seen smashing windows at two places of worship, the police said on Thursday. Counter-terrorism officers are investigating attacks on the mosques in four different areas in the north of the city, West Midlands Police said in a statement. The force added the incidents “are being treated as linked”. “At the moment we don’t know the motive […]
New Zealand bans assault weapons, triggering similar calls in US
by Yelim Lee Agence France Presse WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand imposed an immediate ban on assault weapons on Thursday, taking swift action in response to the Christchurch massacre and triggering renewed calls from leading American politicians for curbs in the United States. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said assault rifles and military-style semi-automatic weapons would be banned with immediate effect, making good on a pledge to ensure that nothing like last week’s […]
All 50 victims of Christchurch attack identified: police
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand police on Thursday said that all 50 victims of last week’s terror attack in Christchurch had now been identified, allowing burials to take place. “I can say that as of a few minutes ago the identification process and to all 50 victims have been completed and all of the next of kin have been advised,” said Commissioner Mike Bush. “That is a landmark for this process.” © Agence […]
Syrian refugee father and son laid to rest as New Zealand burials start
by Glenda KWEK / Daniel DE CARTERET Agence France Presse CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — A Syrian refugee and his son who fled the chaos of their homeland only to meet tragedy in New Zealand were buried on Wednesday in the first funerals of those killed in the mosque massacres. Hundreds of mostly Muslim mourners gathered at a cemetery in the southern city of Christchurch to lay to rest Khalid Mustafa and his 15-year-old […]





