Sri Lankan police arrested 23 people on Tuesday in connection with a spate of at...
KOTTAMPITIYA, Sri Lanka - Sri Lankan police arrested 23 people on Tuesday in connection with a spate of attacks on Muslim-owned homes and shops in apparent reprisal for the Easter bombings by Islamist militants that killed more than 250 people.
The April 21 attacks, claimed by Islamic State, targeted churches and hotels, mostly in Colombo, killing more than 250 people and fuelling fears of a backlash against the island nation’s minority Muslims. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the situation is under control and no new incidents had been reported on Tuesday.The lone fatality was a man killed while trying to protect his home from attack.
In recent years, Buddhist hardliners, led by the Bodu Bala Sena or “Buddhist Power Force”, have stoked hostility against Muslims, saying influences from the Middle East had made Sri Lanka’s Muslims more conservative and isolated. “We asked police, we said stop them. They didn’t fire. They had to stop this, but they didn’t,” he added.
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