KANDY, Sri Lanka (AP) — Buddhist mobs swept through Muslim neighborhoods in Sri Lanka's central hills, destroying stores and restaurants and setting homes on fire despite a curfew, a state of emergency and a heavy deployment of security forces, residents said Thursday.
In the small town of Pallekele, mobs ignored the curfew that was supposed to keep them off the streets and used gasoline bombs to burn four homes, said Mohamed Nazar.
An angry crowd gathered around Nazar's house around 8 p.m. Wednesday, throwing rocks and shouting, so the family turned off the lights so no one could see inside. "Then a large flame came and the house caught fire," Nazar said.
His father hid under a sofa as the flames took hold, but Nazar grabbed him and they ran out. Authorities eventually put out the fire, but much of his family's belongings were destroyed, he said.
Many residents of the area around Kandy, the main hill town, described a series of similar attacks since the violence began early this week. The streets of most towns were all but empty except for police and soldiers.
Source : Yahoo
No comments:
Post a Comment