Sri Lanka bombings: Explosion near Colombo church as police attempt to defuse three new bombs

The minister of justice and minister of Muslim Affairs are holding a joint press conference now following a security briefing.

With authorities naming a radical Islamist outfit as being behind recent threats, the minister of justice Rauf Hakeem said it was clear that "such a horrendous crime committed in such sophisticated, coordinated fashion" could not have been the actions of local actors alone.

Asked by The Independent how the Sri Lankan government can respond if an Isis-style global jihadist movement has taken root in the country, Mr Hakeem said: "We will do everything in our power to root out this evil ideology."

Ministries of justice and Muslim affairs hold joint press conference after meeting with Sri Lanka's Muslim leaders 

Sri Lanka’s justice minister Rauf Hakeem has acknowledged that the atrocity could have been prevented had information relating to the attacks been passed from intelligence agencies to senior officials in the church.

"We regret the fact that the knowledge regarding impending attacks on churches, which was made available through intelligence agencies, was not relayed to the Archbishop. And which, if it were done in time, could have prevented this mayhem."

How Indian newspapers - pictured at a roadside stall in Amritsar - covered Sunday's bombings 

Here is a list of the confirmed casualties by country (provided by AP), not including the hundreds of Sri Lankans who make up the vast majority of those killed.

Sri Lanka's minister of tourism says 39 foreign tourists were killed, while another 28 were wounded. 

UK: Sri Lanka's top diplomat in Britain says authorities know of eight British nationals killed in the bombings. 

India: Indian officials say five Indians died in the attacks. 

Denmark: Danish media are saying that three of the four children of Danish business tycoon Anders Holch Povlsen were killed in the attacks. 

Australia: Australia's prime minister says two Australian citizens were killed. 

China: Chinese state media say two of the country's citizens died in the blasts. 

Others: The United States, Japan and Portugal have also confirmed their nationals were among the dead. 

Special Task Force Bomb Squad officers inspect the site of an exploded van

people run for safety as authorities announced an evacuation of the area after a van was found parked with a suspected explosive device near St Anthony's Church 

Here is our defence editor, Kim Sengupta, on the intelligence failures and 'ignored warnings' that preceded Sri Lanka's Easter massacre

A view of the damage at St Sebastian Catholic Church in Negombo 

Indian media reports that the wife and sister of the suicide bomber at the Shangri-La Hotel were killed in a suicide blast after a bomber blew himself up in a suburb in northern Colombo

Sri Lanka's president has issued a statement following his meeting with the Archbishop of Colombo,  His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith.

In it, President Maithripala Sirisena expressed his "shock, deep pain and dismay over the brutal attacks on places of catholic religious worship" and discussed with the archbishop "future steps that should be taken regarding this incident".

The statement said: "During this meeting, the president, expressing his views said that at present the government has taken every possible step to prevent recurrence of these kind of incidents in the country in the future.

"President Sirisena further said that he has given instructions to the security forces to provide security at any time it is needed to all religious leaders including the Archbishop as well as for shrines."

Four American citizens were killed in the attack, according to CNN. 

A US official also told the broadcaster there were indications that the group responsible had been inspired by Isis, although no organisation has claimed responsibility.