Curfew in Lanka town after inter-religious clashes

Sri Lankan police clamped a curfew on a coastal resort on Sunday after Muslims and hardline Buddhists clashed, leaving several wounded and raising religious tensions.

Police also poured hundreds of reinforcements into Alutgama, 60km south of the capital Colombo, after the two groups attacked each other with stones -- the latest in a series of religious clashes.

A police spokesman said trouble began when a group led by Buddhist monks tried to march in an area where there is a concentration of Muslims.

"The curfew was declared to bring the situation under control," a police officer in the area told reporters. There were no immediate reports of arrests. 

Many activists from both sides as well as bystanders were injured during the evening clashes, according to witnesses who also reported seeing several vehicles smashed.

Nationalist Buddhist groups have accused religious minorities of wielding undue political and economic influence on the island.


 

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