COLOMBO: Police fired teargas to disperse rioters in curfew-bound central Sri Lanka hours after a state of emergency was imposed in a bid to quell anti-Muslim violence, an official said Wednesday. Foreign governments issued travel warnings following Tuesday’s declaration of a state of emergency which gives sweeping powers to police and security forces to arrest and detain suspects. “The state of emergency may include curfews in specific locations,” the British government said. Tensions rose on Tuesday as the body of a 24-year-old Muslim man was pulled out of a burnt building. Sri Lanka’s parliament Tuesday issued an apology to the Muslim minority, which constitutes 10 percent of the country’s population of 21 million.

Source: New Strait Times March 07, 2018 05:15 UTC