MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. Sri Lankan Minister of Mass Media and State Minister of Defense Ruwan Wijewardene stated on Tuesday that according to investigators local extremists committed explosions in churches and hotels on the island in response to the mosque attacks in New Zealand’s city of Christchurch in which 50 people were killed. The TV channel News First quoted the minister of mass media on Twitter.

"Initial investigations reveal Easter Sunday attacks were by local extremists in response to the New Zealand Christchurch mosque attack," Wijewardene said.

On April 21, the heaviest in the country’s history series of terror attacks occurred in Sri Lanka, in which 321 people were killed and 521 were injured. Eight explosions shook the cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa, in particular in Catholic churches during Easter services and in hotels. Seven suicide bombers who were Sri Lankan citizens were involved in the attacks and 40 people were detained during the investigation into the terror attacks.

On March 15, armed people rushed into mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, where hundreds of people were at the moment, and opened fire. Fifty people were killed in the attack and 50 more were injured.