Facebook, WhatsApp Banned as Christian-Muslim Confrontations Escalate

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The government has banned access to Facebook and WhatsApp in Sri Lanka after major confrontations broke out in the South East Asian country.

This follows a terror attack on Sri Lanka Christians during April 21 Easter Sunday where some 250 lost their lives and 500 others injured.

Christian groups attacked Muslim-owned shops in the northwestern town of Chilaw on Sunday in anger at a Facebook post by a shopkeeper, police said.

Security forces fired into the air to disperse mobs, but the violence spread to nearby towns where Muslim businesses were also attacked.

A night curfew in Chilaw and nearby areas was relaxed on Monday, police said, but the social media ban was brought in to prevent incitement to violence.

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Residents of the Island nation are required to be indoors by 9pm to 4am during the curfew period.

The army has been deployed in areas known to be prone to violence as police promised to make arrests of people believed to be instigating retaliatory attacks.

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In 1983, retaliatory attacks led to the uprising of a civil war that lasted 26 years.

Tens of thousands of Tamil Tiger fighters are reported to have been killed during the clashes.

 

 

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