Sri Lankan police impose a nationwide curfew after attacks on mosques and businesses owned by Muslims
A Muslim man stands in front of the Abbraar Mosque after a mob attack in Kiniyama, North Western Province in Sri Lanka. May 13, 2019. Sri Lankan police fired tear gas at mobs attacking mosques and shops owned by Muslims on Monday and imposed a nationwide curfew after the worst outbreak of sectarian violence since the Easter bombings.
Sri Lanka's army commander Mahesh Senanayake said the threat of more militant attacks has been contained and the security services have dismantled most of the network linked to the Easter Sunday bombings. "In view of the prevailing situation in the country, the ministry directs all trustees of mosques not to engage in or permit any gathering to promote or propagate hatred or extremism in any form," the ministry said.Country is safe - president
Sri Lankan security authorities have either killed or arrested all the militants responsible for the Easter suicide bombings that left 257 people dead, police chief Chandana Wickramaratne said on Tuesday. Soldiers conducted a security sweep of schools on Sunday after state institutions were asked to re-open on a staggered basis."I have decided not to send my son to school until the country returns to normal," said Sujeeva Dissanayake, whose son goes to the state-run Asoka College in Colombo.Mid-to-upper stream classes resumed on Monday, to be followed by lower grades at a later date.
"They wanted to show this place was normal. If someone comes to see, it looks like a farm. But what they were doing is terrorism," said a senior police officer in the Batticaloa area, asking to remain anonymous because he was not authorised to speak to media. A letter from Pope Francis addressed to him was read out at the end of the service in which the pontiff says he prayed that "hearts hardened by hatred may yield to His will for peace and reconciliation among all his children."A city near Sri Lanka's capital was placed under curfew by police on Sunday, following clashes between Muslim and Christian mobs two weeks after suicide bombings left 257 people dead.
Ranjith, who is the archbishop of Colombo and an outspoken critic of the Sri Lankan government's apparent failure to act on Indian government intelligence ahead of the Easter attacks, said in the letter that he was closing churches and Catholic schools throughout Sri Lanka and cancelling public congregations for Mass "until further notice.
"On the advice of the security forces, we have decided not to have Sunday masses in any of the churches," the spokesman toldThe Church had planned to resume public services for the first time since the Easter Sunday attacks.A foreign mastermind may have planned the Sri Lankan Easter Sunday bombings, Sri Lanka's President Sirisena toldSirisena also warned it may be possible Daesh has launched a "new strategy" by targeting smaller countries.
Tourist arrivals in Colombo will fall by 50 percent following the Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 250 people, Sri Lanka's Tourism Bureau Chairman Kishu Gomes said on Monday. Sirisena said he was using emergency powers to ban any form of face covering in public. The restriction will take effect from Monday, his office said in a statement.
The raid took place at the NTJ's base in the eastern town of Kattankudy a day after the group was banned under new emergency laws. From teenagers to elderly men and women, to parents carrying their children in their arms, the crowd gradually swelled, as worshippers came out on to the streets to mourn.
At the tightly-guarded Roman Catholic Archbishop's residence in Colombo, Ranjith condemned the attacks as "an insult to humanity", in a private mass that was broadcast live on the country's television channels. The violence came six days after the Easter Day bombings on three churches and three luxury hotels which killed at least 253 people and injured 500.
The police managed to break into the group's communications and began tapping into the plot for what would become the bloodiest attack, Sahni said."They knew the group, they knew the targets, they knew the time, they knew the whereabouts of the suicide bombers, and all of this was communicated to the Sri Lankan government."
The gun battle between troops and suspected militants erupted on Friday evening in Sainthamaruthu in Ampara, to the south of the town of Batticaloa, site of one of the Easter Sunday blasts at luxury hotels and churches.The 15 were found in the morning during clearance operations.
During one search operation, authorities found a stock of explosives and other raw materials used to manufacture bombs. The US has also warned Americans to avoid places of worship in Sri Lanka due to potential for more attacks. At 12:10 pm local time, the call to prayer echoed through the Masjidus Salam Jumma Masjid mosque in the capital Colombo.
A local extremist group leader believed to have played a key role in Sri Lanka's deadly Easter bombings led an attack against a Colombo hotel, the country's president confirmed on Friday.
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