Sri Lanka Court Convicts 15 Men Over Deadly Easter Sunday Bombings
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — September 22, 2026

A Sri Lankan High Court has convicted 15 men over their involvement in the deadly Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 260 people and injured around 500 others in 2019.

The three-judge High Court panel delivered its verdict Tuesday after a trial that lasted about five years. The attacks targeted three churches and three luxury hotels across Sri Lanka during Easter celebrations.

15 Men Convicted
The case involved 24 defendants who faced thousands of charges related to the bombings, including murder and conspiracy to commit terrorism.

Fourteen of the men were convicted of murder and terrorism-related charges. Another defendant was found guilty of some of the charges, while nine others were acquitted.

Sri Lankan authorities had filed more than 23,000 charges against the suspects in 2021. None of the people believed to have directly carried out the suicide bombings survived the attacks.

Churches and Hotels Targeted
The coordinated attacks took place on April 21, 2019, Easter Sunday.

Three churches and three hotels were struck in Colombo and other parts of the country. The bombings were among the deadliest attacks in Sri Lanka’s recent history and killed dozens of foreign nationals as well as local residents.

More than 500 people were injured.

Among those killed were Australian mother Manik Suriaaratchi and her 10-year-old daughter, Alexendria, who died when a bomb exploded at St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo.

Verdict Comes After Years of Investigation
The case has remained one of Sri Lanka’s most closely watched criminal proceedings.

Authorities have investigated alleged links between the attackers and Islamic State-inspired extremist networks. The trial also examined allegations that warnings about a possible attack had been received before the bombings.

Earlier this year, Sri Lanka’s former intelligence chief Suresh Salley was arrested in connection with the Easter attacks. In July, a former police chief and a former senior defence ministry official were sentenced to death for failing to act on intelligence warnings before the bombings.

Sentencing to Follow
The 15 convicted men will be sentenced at a later date.

The verdict marks a major development in a case that has remained unresolved for years, while victims’ families have continued to seek accountability for the attacks.

The bombings continue to have a lasting impact on Sri Lanka, particularly among the families of those killed and injured.

Sources: Associated Press (AP), ABC News Australia, Reuters, BBC News.