A spokesman for an organization representing Sri Lankan-Canadians says he has “no answers” in the wake of co-ordinated bomb attacks in his homeland that killed at least 207 people and injured 450 more.
Riyaz Rauf, vice-president of the Canada Sri Lankan Association of Toronto, says he found out about the bombings via text messages from friends just after midnight.
When he turned on the TV to watch the news, he says he was appalled by the “horrendous” images he saw. In a phone interview with The Canadian Press on Sunday morning, Rauf described the attacks as a “loss of humanity.”
The federal government warned Canadians in Sri Lanka to limit their movements and obey local authorities, saying the situation in the country remains “volatile” and more attacks are possible. It added that the High Commission of Canada to Sri Lanka in the capital Colombo would be closed on Monday due to the security situation.
It’s not clear if any Canadians were among the victims of the blasts, whose targets included hotels and a church frequented by tourists. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said the bodies of at least 27 foreigners were recovered, and the dead included people from Britain, the U.S., India, Portugal and Turkey. China’s Communist Party newspaper said two Chinese were killed.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined other world leaders in expressing sorrow and shock at the attacks, while condemning the targeting of worshippers on Easter Sunday.
“Absolutely horrific news from Sri Lanka. Canada strongly condemns the heinous attacks on Christians at churches and hotels. Our hearts and thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those killed and all those injured,” Trudeau wrote in a tweet Sunday morning.
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Sri Lanka’s defence minister described the bombings as a terrorist attack by religious extremists and said seven suspects had been arrested, though there was no immediate claim of responsibility. He said most of the blasts were believed to have been suicide attacks.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he feared the violence could trigger instability in Sri Lanka, a country of about 21 million people, and he vowed the government will “vest all necessary powers with the defence forces” to take action against those responsible. The government imposed a nationwide curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The eight explosions represent the deadliest violence in the South Asian island country since a bloody civil war ended a decade ago.
Rauf, who moved to Canada nine years ago after graduating from university in Sri Lanka, said he’s at a loss to explain the reasons behind the violence — but he’s confident his homeland will persevere.
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“Sri Lanka as a nation has come through the worst period that it could ever come out of. We had a civil war for 25 years,” he said.
“We are a bunch of resilient people who can overcome adversity.”
Canada is home to roughly 150,000 people of Sri Lankan or mixed Sri Lankan descent, most of them in Ontario, according to 2016 figures from Statistics Canada.
– with files from The Associated Press