Sri Lanka deploys army, imposes curfew to quell riots

Colombo, March 6: In Sri Lanka, curfew has been imposed within the Kandy District to prevent clashes between majority Sinhalese Buddhists and minority Muslims after a mob set fire to a Muslim-owned shop.

He said, the clashes had erupted last night after a 41-year-old man succumbed to his injuries after being attacked by a group of people on February 22.

Sri Lankan Military spokesman Sumith Atapattu said 200 military personnel has been sent to the unrest area at police request.

This is the second incident of violence against minority Muslim community over past few weeks. A similar violence in eastern province last month has damaged several houses and a mosque while causing injury to few.

Sri Lankan President has ordered for impartial probe into the incident as special police forces have been deployed to bring the situation under control. After end of LTTE war in 2009, hardline Buddhist groups have increasingly targeted other ethnic minority groups.

According to Sri Lanka's PM office “Measures have been taken to compensate the affected parties for those whose properties were damaged during the attacks. Plans have been made to pay compensation soon to renovate shops and mosques damaged in the incident.”