On Easter Sunday, suicide bombers attacked churches and hotels in Sri Lanka killing 290 people and leaving 500 wounded. So far, Sri Lankan police have arrested 24 people in connection with the explosions. The bombing on Easter Sunday was not the end, on Monday (Sunday in the United States) more explosions occurred in different parts of the country. In response to the devastation, a dusk-to-dawn curfew has been implemented in Colombo, the capital. In addition to that, Sri Lanka has blocked many major social media and messaging services such as Facebook, WhatsApp, etc. in order to stop the spread of misinformation.

What upsetted many people is that the whole devastation could have been lessened or prevented. Sri Lanka’s security forces were notified at least 10 days before the bombings that the militant group was planning attacks against churches. However, they took no action against it. Top government officials said that the warning never reached them. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that neither him nor his cabinet members were informed. The health minister, Rajitha Senaratne, said that there had been a warning as early as April 4. Senaratne notes that the lack of cooperation within the government, such as the refusal of panel members to meet with the prime minister during a security council meeting, is what caused the lack of action by the government. A letter from April 11 from the police official not only named the group believed to be planing an attack, National Thowheeth Jama’ath, but also individual members and their addresses.