Sri Lanka: Curfew lifted for 2 hrs in North Western Province

ANI  |  Asia 

The indefinite imposed in one of the provinces of the island nation will be lifted for two hours from 4 pm to 6 pm in the evening.

Some parts of including North Western Province (NWP) were placed under indefinite and was banned since Monday night after a 45-year-old man was killed by a sword-wielding mob in an escalating anti-Muslim backlash following the terror attacks, Al Jazeera reported.

Violence broke out late on Monday, three weeks after eight-coordinated bombings killed at least 258 people, with mobs carrying out arson attacks including one involving around 2,000 people who vandalised a mosque, witnesses told Geo News.

Earlier on Tuesday, the police said that the nationwide curfew imposed overnight earlier (9 pm local time to 4 am) was raised on Tuesday morning except for the NWP.

warned of stern action against rioters, and said that constables have been issued orders to use "maximum force," Al Jazeera reported.

"The curfew in the NWP will continue until further notice," was quoted as saying.

Curfews were previously limited to specific areas where attacks had taken place, including Puttalam, Kurunegala and Gamphala districts near Colombo.

In an address to the nation on Monday night, had said a countrywide curfew was declared to prevent unidentified groups orchestrating communal violence.

also temporarily banned some networks and messaging apps, including and WhatsApp, after a posting sparked anti-Muslim riots across several towns.

The attacks came during the Muslim holy fasting month of

Residents in NWP said that crowds attacked mosques and damaged Muslim-owned businesses for a second day on Monday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Tue, May 14 2019. 17:20 IST