A pipe bomb, reportedly 1.8-metre long, found on a road near Colombo's airport was detonated by explosives experts, Air Force spokesman Gihan Seneviratne told Bloomberg. A Sky News journalist reported Colombo airport was put in lockdown on Monday morning, Australian time. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he feared the violence could trigger instability in the country and its economy. Wickremesinghe said his government would "vest all necessary powers with the defence forces" to take action against those responsible" for Sunday's attacks, "regardless of their stature." "I strongly condemn the cowardly attacks on our people today. I call upon all Sri Lankans during this tragic time to remain united and strong," he said in a tweet. Since the end of the nation's 26-year civil war, in which the Tamil Tigers, a rebel group from the ethnic Tamil minority, sought independence from ethnic Sinhala Buddhist majority Sri Lanka, the country has seen sporadic ethnic and religious violence. The scale of Sunday's bloodshed recalled the worst days of the war.

Sri Lankan police commandos enter a suspected hideout of militants following a shootout in Colombo. Credit:AP The nearly simultaneous first six blasts on Sunday morning local time toppled ceilings and blew out windows at a famous Catholic church in Colombo and at three luxury hotels in the city. Two other blasts followed at St Sebastian's Catholic church in Negombo, a majority Catholic town north of Colombo where footage showed people dragging the injured out of blood-splattered pews, and at the Protestant Zion church in the eastern town of Batticaloa. Three police officers were killed while conducting a search operation at a suspected safe house in Dematagoda, on the outskirts of Colombo, where the last of eight blasts took place. After police moved into Dematagoda, the occupants of the house reportedly detonated explosives in an effort to prevent arrest.

Shops were closed and streets deserted in Colombo even before the government imposed a nationwide curfew from 6pm to 6am. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said 207 people had been killed and 450 wounded in the blasts, though the death injury toll was expected to climb. Two of the blasts were suspected to have been carried out by suicide bombers, according to one senior official. Worshippers and hotel guests were among the dead, he said. Sri Lankan Army soldiers secure the area around St Anthony's Shrine after a blast in Colombo. Credit:AP Sri Lanka's foreign secretary, Ravinath Aryasinghe, said the bodies of at least 27 foreigners had been recovered from the blast sites.

The British Foreign Office has confirmed that British nationals died in the attacks but did not specify the number, which Sri Lankan officials said was five. London's Telegraph reported a mother and son were among the victims. Alex Nicholson, 11, and his mother Anita, 42, were killed while eating breakfast at the Shangri-La Hotel. His father, Ben Nicholson, survived but the whereabouts of the couple's daughter was unknown. Victims from China, Portugal and the Netherlands were also among the dead, according to officials. Hospital sources told reporters that American citizens had been killed. Security forces inspect the St Anthony's Shrine after an explosion hit St Anthony's Church in Kochchikade in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Credit:Anadolu Agency Leaders of countries around the world condemned the attacks, while Pope Francis added an appeal at the end of his traditional Easter Sunday blessing to address the massacre. Speaking from the loggia of St Peter's Basilica, Francis said, "I want to express my loving closeness to the Christian community, targeted while they were gathered in prayer, and all the victims of such cruel violence."

"I entrust to the Lord all those who were tragically killed and pray for the injured and all those who are suffering as a result of this dramatic event," the pope added. Sri Lanka, a small island nation at the southern tip of India, has a long association with Christianity. Christian tradition holds that St Thomas the Apostle visited Sri Lanka and southern India in the decades after the death of Christ. Close to the Christians of Sri Lanka: Pope Francis delivers his "Urbi et Orbi" ("to the city and the world") message in St Peter's Square at the Vatican. Credit:AP The majority of the island's Christians are Roman Catholic. St Anthony's Shrine and the three hotels where the blasts took place are frequented by foreign tourists.

Local TV showed damage at the Cinnamon Grand, Shangri-La and Kingsbury hotels. The Shangri-La's second-floor restaurant was gutted in the blast, with the ceiling and windows blown out. Loose wires hung and tables were overturned in the blackened space. A police magistrate was at the hotel to inspect the bodies recovered from the restaurant. From outside the police cordon, three bodies could be seen covered in white sheets. Alex Agieleson, who was near St Anthony's Shrine, said buildings shook with the blast, and that a number of injured people were carried away in ambulances. The Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, called on Sri Lanka's government to launch a "very impartial strong inquiry" and to punish those found responsible "mercilessly because only animals can behave like that."

Urgent inquiries The Australian government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was making urgent enquiries with local authorities to determine if any Australians were affected by the blasts. Sri Lankan elderly woman is helped near St Anthony's Shrine after a blast in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Credit:AP "Australians concerned for the welfare of family and friends in the area should attempt to contact them directly. If you cannot contact them and have fears for their safety, DFAT’s Consular Emergency Centre can be contacted on 1300 555 135 (within Australia) or +61 2 6261 3305 (from overseas)." Prime Minister Scott Morrison described the bombings as "absolutely devastating".

"As Easter Sunday draws to a conclusion here in Australia, our heart goes out to those Christians and all of those other innocents who have been slaughtered today in this horrific terrorist attack," he said. "We still don't know who was responsible for this or what their motivation was, but we do know that innocent lives have been stolen once again, and our heartfelt sympathies go out to all of those who are bereaved tonight, us included, as we just share their sorrow. "And to the beautiful people of Sri Lanka, Australia sends its heartfelt sympathies and our prayers and our support and our offer to do whatever we can to support you in this terrible time of need." The bodies of victims are removed from St Sebastian's Church in Negombo on Sunday. Credit:AP New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also condemned the "devastating" attacks, and referred to the March 15 shootings at two mosques in her country's city of Christchurch in which 50 people died.

"New Zealand condemns all acts of terrorism and our resolve has only been strengthened by the attack on our soil," Ardern said. "New Zealand rejects all forms of extremism and stands for freedom of religion and the right to worship safely." The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said 115 New Zealanders were registered as being in Sri Lanka but more were likely to be there. There was no indication New Zealanders were among the victims. Scenes of devastation at the Zion Church in Batticaloa Sri Lanka on Sunday. Credit:Twitter Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the blasts "an assault on all of humanity," while Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced them as "cruel and cynical." British Prime Minister Theresa May posted on Twitter: "We must stand together to make sure that no one should ever have to (practice) their faith in fear."

The archbishop of Paris and parishioners of fire-ravaged Notre-Dame Cathedral were also mourning the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka. Archbishop Michel Aupetit tweeted: "Why so much hate on this day when we celebrate love? On this Easter day, we are in communion with our murdered brethren of Sri Lanka." Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Tourists rush to make contact Foreign tourists on one Sri Lankan tour hurriedly took to their mobile phones to text family and loved ones around the world after the blasts.

The group was on a 15-day tour of the tropical island nation, seeing sites including huge Buddhist monuments, tea plantations, jungle eco-lodges and famed sandy beaches. The tour started last week in Negombo, a majority Catholic town north of Colombo where one of the blasts hit a church. It was to end in Colombo, but tour operators said the group may change its itinerary and decide to skip Colombo in light of the attacks. The scene from inside St Sebastian's Church in Katuwapitiya, Negombo. Credit:Facebook As the nearest major town to the country's main airport, Negombo is a gateway for many travellers visiting Sri Lanka. Although not among the country's top beach destinations, it is home to plenty of hotels and resorts popular with foreign visitors. "Having experienced the open and welcoming Sri Lanka during my last week travelling through the country, I had a sense that the country was turning the corner, and in particular those in the tourism industry were hopeful for the future," said Peter Kelson, 41, a technology manager from Sydney.

"Apart from the tragedy of the immediate victims of the bombings, I worry that these terrible events will set the country back significantly." This image made from video provided by Hiru TV shows damage inside St Anthony's Shrine in Colombo. Credit:AP Sri Lankan security forces in 2009 defeated Tamil Tiger rebels who had fought to create an independent homeland for the country's ethnic minority Tamils. The UN initially estimated the death toll from 26 years of fighting to be about 100,000 but a UN experts' panel later said some 45,000 ethnic Tamils may have been killed in the last months of the fighting alone. Government troops and the Tamil Tigers were both accused of grave human rights violations, which prompted local and international calls for investigations. Perpetrators sought

Junior defence minister Ruwan Wijewardena told reporters he believed police and military forces had identified the perpetrators of the blasts. Government officials also said major social media networks and messaging apps, including Facebook and WhatsApp, had been blocked inside the country to prevent misinformation and rumours. Relatives of people killed in Church blasts mourn as they wait outside mortuary of a hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Credit:AP St Sebastian's, a gothic-style Catholic church in Katuwapitiya, north of Colombo, was devastated in the attack. More than 50 people who were inside at the time were killed, a police official said, with pictures showing bodies on the ground, blood on the pews and a destroyed roof. Local media reported a further 25 people were killed in the attack on the evangelical church in Batticaloa, 250 kilometres east of the capital.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said that the injured were being evacuated while security forces have cordoned off the areas and search operations are underway. Security in the capital and the airport has been stepped up following the blasts. St Sebastian's posted pictures of destruction inside the church on its Facebook page, showing blood on pews and the floor, and requested help from the public. "Our people are engaged in evacuating the casualties," the source said. Local TV showed damage at the Cinnamon Grand, Shangri-La and Kingsbury hotels.

The Shangri-La's second-floor restaurant was gutted in the blast, with the ceiling and windows blown out. Loose wires hung and tables were overturned in the blackened space. A police magistrate was at the hotel to inspect the bodies recovered from the restaurant. From outside the police cordon, several bodies could be seen covered in white sheets. Christian groups say they have faced increasing intimidation from some extremist Buddhist monks in recent years. And last year, there were clashes between the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community and minority Muslims, with some hardline Buddhist groups accusing Muslims of forcing people to convert to Islam. Sri Lankan soldiers secure the area around St Anthony's Shrine in Colombo on Sunday. Credit:AP

President Maithripala Sirisena said he had ordered the police special task force and military to investigate who was behind the attacks and their agenda. The military had been deployed and security stepped up at Colombo's international airport. It was the worst violence in Sri Lanka since the end of the civil war a decade ago. The magnitude of the bloodshed recalled the random bombings perpetrated by the separatist Tamil Tigers that targeted a bank, a shopping mall, a Buddhist temple and hotels popular with tourists. AP, Reuters, McClatchy