COLOMBO, April 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Sri Lanka's Catholics marked on Monday the sixth anniversary of the Easter bombings that killed 279 people with a silent march and demands for justice.

Several investigations into the April 21, 2019, bombings, which targeted three churches and three hotels, concluded that the attacks were carried out by homegrown jihadists who claimed affiliation with the Islamic State group.

However, the island's Catholic Church has accused successive governments of protecting those behind the attack and several high-level investigations have identified links between military intelligence units and the bombers.

The head of the Church in Sri Lanka, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, led the march in the capital Colombo, where he presided over a multi-religious ceremony for the victims, who included 45 foreigners.

Hundreds of relatives of the victims marched from St Lucia's Cathedral to the nearby St Anthony's Church, where the first suicide attack took place.

All radio and television channels across the country muted their broadcasts for two minutes as a mark of respect.

Ranjith announced that the Vatican had recognised 167 Catholics killed as "Witnesses of the Faith", placing them on a path to possible sainthood.

"The purpose of this is to propagate and preserve the memory of the witness in perpetuity," Ranjith said.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said on the eve of the anniversary there would be a review of the final report of the 2021 presidential commission of inquiry.

Dissanayake's office said the report had been handed to the police for action against those linked to the attacks.

Church leaders have alleged that military intelligence officers orchestrated the bombings to bolster the political prospects of retired army officer Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was campaigning on a platform of national security.

He won the presidency seven months later.

Rajapaksa was forced out of office in July 2022 following months of protests over an unprecedented economic crisis that led to shortages of food, fuel, and medicine.