Sri Lankan police have fired tear gas and enforced a curfew in two coastal towns popular with tourists in an attempt to end clashes between Muslims and Buddhists that threatens to spark wider religious violence.
The police said on Sunday they were widening a curfew in Alutgama, to the neighbouring town Beruwala, a predominantly Muslim area, after violence threatened to take hold in the region.
According to the AFP news agency, the two groups attacked each other with stones in fighting over the weekend - the latest in a series of religious clashes to hit the island nation.
A police spokesman said trouble began when a group led by Buddhist monks tried to march in an area with a sizeable population of Muslims, who are a minority in the mainly Buddhist country.
"The curfew was declared to bring the situation under control," he said. "The curfew was extended to a neighbouring area to prevent an escalation of clashes."
"Several Muslim-owned shops have been burned and homes attacked," a resident in Beruwala told AFP. Full story...
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The police said on Sunday they were widening a curfew in Alutgama, to the neighbouring town Beruwala, a predominantly Muslim area, after violence threatened to take hold in the region.
According to the AFP news agency, the two groups attacked each other with stones in fighting over the weekend - the latest in a series of religious clashes to hit the island nation.
A police spokesman said trouble began when a group led by Buddhist monks tried to march in an area with a sizeable population of Muslims, who are a minority in the mainly Buddhist country.
"The curfew was declared to bring the situation under control," he said. "The curfew was extended to a neighbouring area to prevent an escalation of clashes."
"Several Muslim-owned shops have been burned and homes attacked," a resident in Beruwala told AFP. Full story...
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