![Sri Lankan Naval soldiers stand guard as authorities started clearing the debris from inside of the damaged St. Anthony's Church after it was targeted in a series of Islamic State-claimed suicide bombings that killed hundreds of people during Easter Sunday, in Colombo, Saturday, April 27, 2019.[Photo: AP/Manish Swarup]](http://img0.zhytuku.meldingcloud.com/images/zhycms_chinaplus/20190428/3f9b1eda-08ae-44e2-8d40-c66f6a9bd09d.jpg?x-oss-process=image/resize,w_650)
Sri Lanka’s president is banning two groups allegedly linked to the Easter bombings under emergency powers that came into effect on Tuesday.
The office of President Maithripala Sirisena said in a statement Saturday evening that National Thawheed Jammath, or NTJ, and Jamathei Millathu Ibraheem, or JMI, would be banned by presidential decree.
Presidential spokesman Dharmasri Ekanayake says the move allows the government to confiscate any property belonging to the two organizations.
On Monday, officials confirmed that the alleged leader of the Muslim extremist group, an offshoot of NTJ, had died in one of the coordinated suicide bombings at churches and hotels that killed more than 250 people.
