Sri Lanka anti-Muslim riots kill one despite nationwide curfew
Mobs slashed to death a Sri Lankan Muslim man despite a nationwide curfew imposed Monday night after anti-Muslim riots spread to three districts north of the capital in a violent backlash against Easter suicide bombings. The 45-year-old man died shortly after admission to a hospital in Puttalam district during the rioting which began Sunday in the area, a police official told AFP. “Mobs had attacked him with sharp weapons at his carpentry workshop,” the official said. “This is the first death from the riots.” Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the curfew was declared to prevent unidentified groups destabilising the country by orchestrating communal violence. “At several places in the North-Western Province these groups created trouble, damaged property,” Wickremesinghe said in a televised address to the nation. “Police and security forces have contained the situation, but these (unidentified) groups are still trying to create trouble.” Wickremesinghe said the unrest would hinder investigations into the April 21 attacks that targeted three Christian churches and three luxury hotels, killing 258 people and wounding nearly 500. In a separate TV address, Police Chief Chandana Wickramaratne warned police will take stern action against rioters, and constables have been issued orders to use maximum force. Residents in the North-Western Province were ordered to stay indoors after Christian-led mobs torched dozens of Muslim-owned shops, vehicles and mosques on Sunday and Monday.
