The Sri Lankan government on Thursday called on the country's mosques and churches not to hold Friday prayers and Sunday prayers for "security reasons" against the backdrop of attacks on the country and left many dead and wounded.
The Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesing said that "suspects in the recent attacks are still at large and may have explosives."
The US embassy in Sri Lanka warned that places of worship could be targeted with terrorist attacks at the end of next week.
This came at a time when the Sri Lankan authorities asked all Catholic churches in the country, which targeted two of them in the attacks, to close their doors and suspend prayers until security conditions prevail.
"On the recommendation of the security forces, we will close all the churches," the Christian CNN channel quoted a church official as saying. "There will be no sanctuaries for the faithful until the security situation settles."
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Eight churches and hotel attacks on Sunday coincided with Easter, killing 359 people and injuring more than 500, according to the latest casualty toll.
Among the dead were 39 foreigners from India, Britain, Denmark, the United States, China, France, Turkey, Australia, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Bangladesh and Japan.
The authorities attributed the attacks to the local "National Tawheed" group, while the Islamic State Organization adopted the attacks and posted a videotape in which eight men announced their allegiance.
Following the attacks, sectarian tensions have intensified over the past few days, and as Christian mourners buried the remains of their dead relatives, hundreds of Muslim refugees were fleeing the town of Negombo on the country's west coast.
On Wednesday, hundreds of Pakistani Muslims fled the multi-ethnic city north of the capital Colombo, an hour's drive, amid fear of threats of retaliation by local residents and piled up in buses equipped with police and local leaders.