At least four Americans killed in Sri Lanka attacks: State Department

At least four Americans were killed and several seriously injured in a series of bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, a State Department official said Monday.

“While details continue to emerge, approximately 290 people have been killed, including at least four U.S. citizens,” a State Department official told The Hill. “Several U.S. citizens were seriously injured in the attacks. We extend our deepest condolences to the friends and families of the deceased. We will continue to work to provide services and support to all U.S. citizens affected and their families.”

The official declined to disclose further details out of respect for the privacy of the victims. The initial American death toll was first reported by The Washington Post.

Nearly 300 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in the attacks on churches and hotels that Sri Lankan and U.S. officials have attributed to terrorism. Most of the victims were Sri Lankan, but the State Department revealed Sunday that “several” of those dead were Americans. 

Earlier Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the attacks as the result of a “a horrific wave of Islamic radical terror” in remarks to reporters at the State Department. Pompeo said the United States is prepared to offer any assistance to the Sri Lankan government and American citizens impacted by the attacks. 

“We urge that any evildoers be brought to justice expeditiously and America is prepared to support that,” Pompeo said. “We stand committed, resolved, to confront terrorism together.”

President Trump later tweeted that he had spoken to Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to “inform him that the United States stands by him and his country in the fight against terrorism” and to express his condolences in the wake of the bombings.

Sri Lankan authorities have blamed a little-known radical Islamist group called National Thowheed Jamath for carrying out the attacks, and some officials suggested that the group may have been aided by international militants.

According to the Post, one of the American victims was a fifth-grade student at Sidwell Friends, an exclusive private school in the Washington, D.C., region.