Sri Lanka imposes emergency, says international network involved in attacks

COLOMBO (Reuters): Sri Lanka said on Monday it was invoking emergency powers in the aftermath of devastating bomb attacks on hotels and churches, blamed on militants with foreign links, which killed 290 people and wounded nearly 500.

The emergency law, which gives police and the military extensive powers to detain and interrogate suspects without court orders, would go into effect at midnight local time, the president’s office said.

Colombo, the seaside capital of the Indian Ocean island, was jittery the day after the horrifying Easter Sunday attacks. Police said 87 bomb detonators were found at the city’s main bus station, while an explosive went off near a church when bomb squad officials were trying to defuse it. Scores were killed in the church on Sunday.

A night curfew went into effect at 8 p.m.

There was no claim of responsibility for Sunday’s attacks but suspicion was focusing on Islamist militants in the Buddhist-majority country.