COLOMBO: A gunman fired at a church in Sri Lanka, police said on Saturday, with the country on high alert six years since Easter Sunday bombings killed hundreds.

The gunman opened fire Friday at a church in Manampitiya, 160km northeast of the capital Colombo, a police statement said. The shooting damaged windows and no one was hurt, while a suspect has been arrested, police said.

“Initial investigations suggest that the suspect had targeted the church due to a personal enmity with the pastor,” the police statement said.

Armed police and troops have been deployed to nearly all churches nationwide during Easter celebrations, with security heightened following the 2019 attack.

Suicide bombers in 2019 killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners, at three churches and three hotels Sri Lanka’s Catholic minority has maintained a campaign for justice since the bombings, saying that prior investigations failed to answer outstanding questions.

The Church has accused successive governments of protecting those behind the attack and several high-level investigations have identified links between military intelligence units and the bombers.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2025