More memorials and vigils were held across the North-East in tribute of the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks in Batticaloa and Colombo which killed over 250 people.

Military personnel, Special Task Force officers, and police were seen in heightened numbers across the North-East this weekend as more people were arrested for alleged involvement with the Easter Sunday blasts. 

Residents in Maruthamunai, Amparai described seeing security forces directing all Muslim people in the area to Kariyappar School after a gun battle between troops and Islamists extremists took place. Muslim residents were interrogated and forced to register their details with the military. 

India's Ministry of External Affairs has warned its citizens against all non-essential travel to Sri Lanka following the Easter Sunday bombings which left over 250 dead. 

"In view of the prevailing security situation in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of terror attacks on April 21, 2019, Indian nationals intending to travel to Sri Lanka are advised not to undertake non-essential travel," the advisory said. 

Full face coverings, including the burqa and niqab, are to be banned from tomorrow in Sri Lanka. 

A new Facial Recognition System is to be installed at Sri Lanka's main airport in Colombo following the Easter Sunday bombings by Islamist extremist groups. 

India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has raided the houses of at least four people in North Kerala in relation to the Easter Sunday bombing in Sri Lanka which claimed over 250 lives.

The targets of the raid lived in Kasargode and Palakkad and were identified as having followed Zahara Hashim devotedly on social media. Hashim is a radical Islamic preacher who is accused of having planned the attacks in Sri Lanka.

<p>The UN Security Council has released a statement condemning the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka which claimed the lives of almost 300 people and urged all states to support Sri Lanka in its efforts to hold the perpetrators accountable.</p> <p>This statement comes as the President blamed&nbsp;UN investigations into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka for a weakening of the state’s security apparatus.&nbsp;</p> <p>Sri Lanka is currently under a state of emergency under which social media outlets are blocked and the police authorise are able to make arbitrary arrests.&nbsp;</p>

Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) today detained the mother of the suspected suicide bomber at the Batticaloa Zion church in the Easter Sunday blasts. 

Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena today using emergency legislation to ban the Islamist extremist groups accused of being responsible for the Easter Sunday blasts. 

In a statement the president's media division said National Thawheed Jammath (NTJ) and Jamathei Millathu Ibraheem (JMI) had been banned. 

Questions over how the bombers were able to carry out such attacks remain however after numerous reports, including a letter from the Deputy Inspector General of Police stated that the Sri Lankan leaders were warned repeatedly about the attacks by their own intelligence personnel and by Indian counterparts. 
 

Sri Lankan police are actively investigating if Islamist groups responsible for the Easter Sunday suicide attacks are also responsible for the killing of two officers in Batticaloa last year, after a missing police rifle was found in a raid yesterday.