Reports of an attack on a Buddhist temple in Abathanna triggered another day of clashes across Kandy district between members of the country’s mostly Buddhist Sinhalese majority and police.
One man died from a heart attack after his shop was attacked and another person is thought to have been killed while trying to attack a mosque, according to police in Katugastota town and sources at the prime minister’s office said.
Groups of men wielding clubs, some covering their faces, were seen roaming the streets in at least five areas across Kandy on Tuesday as the Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena, arrived to meet police officials and religious leaders.
Police fired teargas as the rioting spread across the district on Tuesday night. Three officers were wounded in one area, Menikhinna, and seven people were arrested for breaking an indefinite curfew in place across Kandy, a police spokesman, Ruwan Gunasekara, said.
Supporters of radical Buddhist nationalist groups have been blamed for days of arson attacks and vandalism against Muslim-owned properties in Kandy which have prompted the government to declare its first state of emergency since the end of the civil war era.
A witness in Abathanna said crowds including masked men had begun to congregate in the town around 9am on Wednesday morning.
“There was a story that a temple had been attacked last night, so these groups were going around, stoning and smashing windows of Muslim shops,” Ruwan Kulasekera said.
Police in riot gear fired bullets in the air and used teargas to clear the crowd, but there were fears people would return again after dark, he said.
Source: theguardian
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