Sri Lanka imposes curfew in western coastal town after communal clashes

Sri Lankan police on Sunday imposed curfew with immediate effect in country's western coastal town of Chilaw after a mosque and few shops owned by Muslims were attacked by a mob, authorities said.

curfew has been imposed till 6 am Monday as a precaution, police said.

ditional troops have been deployed in city to bring situation under control, y said. Tension was brewing since Saturday between Catholics and Muslims in Christian dominated town. This is a fallout from Easter Sunday attacks in which over 250 people were killed.

Nine suicide bombers, including a woman, carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels, killing 258 people and injuring over 500 ors on Easter Sunday.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for attack, but government has blamed local Islamist extremist group, National Thawheed Jama'ath (NTJ), for bombings. Some inflammatory exchanges happened between two communities in town since Saturday, residents said.

Re: Sri Lanka Offers Relief Pack To Revive Tourism Industry Hit By Easter Attacks

A Catholic woman claimed that she was threatened inside a Muslim-owned shop. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, cancelled all masses since Easter Sunday until security situation could improve.

It was just this morning that churches resumed ir rmal Sunday services since attack. Early this month, several people were injured in clashes between Muslims and Christians in Negombo, a majority Christian town where St. Sebastian's Church was targeted during Easter attacks.

After clashes in Negombo, Cardinal Ranjith appealed to Christians and or communities to show restraint.

"I appeal to all Catholic and Christian brors and sisters t to hurt even a single Muslim person because y are our brors, because y are part of our religious culture. refore please avoid hurting m and try to create a better spirit of understanding and good relations between all communities of Sri Lanka," said Ranjith.

In his dress to nation after Easter Sunday blasts, President Maithripala Sirisena called on public to refrain from looking at Muslim community with a suspicious eye following attacks.

"It was only a small group which h engd in such acts of terror," he ded.

Sri Lanka has a population of 21 million which is a patchwork of ethnicities and religions, dominated by Sinhalese Buddhist majority. Muslims account for 10 per cent of population and are second-largest mirity after Hindus. Around seven per cent of Sri Lankans are Christians.