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A series of bombings that killed 290 people in Sri Lanka Sunday was conducted with the support of an international network, officials said.
The government blamed attacks on a local jihadist group until then unknown, the national Towheed Jamath, but said he had benefited from help from abroad.
500 people were injured in suicide attacks on churches and hotels.
A national emergency will be declared from midnight Monday, announced the office of the president.
Police arrested 24 people during a series of raids.
"We do not believe that these attacks were perpetrated by a group of people who were confined in this country," said a spokeswoman for the cabinet, Rajitha Senaratne.
"There was an international network without which these attacks would not have been successful."
A subsequent statement announced that President Maithripala Sirisena would ask for foreign aid to find international links with the attackers.
On Sunday, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the security services were "aware of the news" of possible attacks but that information had not been used yet.
A curfew will be imposed from 20:00 to 14:00 Tuesday, announced the government.
How did the attacks take place?
The first explosions were reported around 8:45 am local time, and six explosions were reported in a short time.
Three churches in Negombo, Batticaloa and the Kochchikade district of Colombo were targeted during Easter services. The explosions also rocked the Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand hotels in the capital.
All attacks were perpetrated by suicide bombers, officials said.
The police then raided two addresses and explosions occurred. One was in Dehiwala, south of Colombo, and the other near Dematagoda district in which three officers were killed.
An improvised explosive device – one meter long [1.8m] plastic pipe filled with explosives – was also found and defused near the Colombo airport, the capital.
The police did not provide an indication of the number of people killed and wounded at each location.
What do we know about attackers?
There was swirling speculation about who might be behind the attacks and the government has limited access to social media in the aftermath of the bombings.
Azzah Ameen, of the BBC in Colombo, quoted officials as saying that the suicide bombers would be part of a "radical extremist Islamist group".
Addressing reports that officials had previously had information about future attacks, Wickremesinghe said: "We need to examine why adequate precautions have not been taken. ministers were kept informed. "
A senior Sri Lankan official later told the BBC that the government and the intelligence services should not be blamed.
Hemasari Fernando – who is also chief of staff to President Maithripala Sirisena, political rival to Mr Wickremesinghe – said that the information received earlier this month concerned one or two possible attacks, and that he did not go to court. never waited for the magnitude of the attacks on Sunday. .
Who are the victims?
The vast majority of those killed are believed to be Sri Lankans, including dozens of Christians who died during Easter services.
The Foreign Ministry said 35 foreign nationals are among the dead.
Among them, three children of Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, a spokesman for the family confirmed at the BBC. Mr. Povlsen is the owner of the Bestseller clothing chain and holds a majority stake in the apparel giant Asos.
Other international victims include:
- At least five Columbia citizens – two of whom with common US citizenship
- A Portuguese citizen and six Indian citizens
- Two engineers from turkey, according to the Turkish news agency Anadolu
- Two Chinese Chinese nationals, according to the China Daily
- Two AustraliansSaid Prime Minister Scott Morrison
- A person from Netherlands
- A person from Japan, according to Japanese media citing government sources
What is the recent history of Sri Lanka?
Sunday's attacks were the deadliest in Sri Lanka since the end of the civil war in the country in 2009.
The war ended with the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, who had been fighting for 26 years for an independent homeland for the Tamil minority.
It is estimated that between 70,000 and 80,000 people died in the conflict.
The nation has experienced sporadic violence since. In March 2018, the state of emergency was declared after the attack on mosques and Muslim-owned properties by members of the Sinhalese Buddhist community.
Religion in Sri Lanka
Theravada Buddhism is Sri Lanka's largest religious group, accounting for about 70.2% of the population, according to the latest census.
It is the religion of Sri Lankan majority Sinhala and it occupies a prime place in the laws of the country.
Hindus and Muslims account respectively for 12.6% and 9.7% of the population.
According to the 2012 census, Sri Lanka has about 1.5 million Christians, the vast majority of whom are Catholic.
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