Families of victims of the Easter Sunday bombing at Zion Church in Batticaloa gathered on 21 April to mark the sixth anniversary of the attack.
The remembrance event took place outside the church where the suicide bombing claimed the lives of 31 people, including 14 children, and injured more than 80 others in 2019. The ceremony saw floral garlands placed before portraits of the deceased, candles lit in their memory, and a moment of silence observed by relatives, party members, and members of the public.
The bombing at Zion Church was one of a series of coordinated suicide attacks that rocked Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday six years ago. Other targets included St. Anthony’s Shrine in Kochchikade, Colombo, St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, Negombo, and several luxury hotels in Colombo, including the Shangri-La, Kingsbury, Cinnamon Grand, and one other.
The coordinated attacks resulted in the deaths of 270 individuals and left hundreds more injured.
Although the Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the bombings, initial investigations identified the local extremist group National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) as being behind the attacks. Subsequent revelations raised serious questions about Sri Lankan state accountability, as it emerged that intelligence agencies had prior warnings of an impending attack on Easter Sunday but failed to act in time to prevent the tragedy.
The anniversary comes amid continued calls for justice and transparency, as victims’ families and civil society groups urge the Sri Lankan government to fully disclose the extent of its prior knowledge and to ensure accountability for the security lapses that contributed to one of the deadliest terror attacks in the island’s history.
