APRNEWS - Sri Lanka's Catholic Church said public masses will resume Sunday under tight security, two weeks after Easter bombings claimed by the Islamic State group killed 253 people at three churches and three luxury hotels.

APRNEWS - The toll in a series of suicide bomb blasts on Easter Sunday targeting hotels and churches in Sri Lanka has risen to 359, police said Wednesday, adding that nine suicide bombers carried out the attacks.

APRNEWS - At least 45 children were among the more than 320 people killed in suicide bomb attacks in Sri Lanka, the United Nations said Tuesday.

"The total now is 45 children who died," UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac told reporters in Geneva.