Colombo: Sri Lanka today declared a state of emergency for 10 days to rein in the
spread of communal violence between majority Sinhala and minority
Muslims in the country's scenic Kandy district that left two persons
dead and damaged several mosques and homes.
Violence, triggered
by the death of a Sinhalese man at the hands of a mob last week,
erupted yesterday in the Theldeniya area of the central hill district
popular with tourists. The government sent troops and elite police
commandoes to Kandy to restore order and enforce the curfew.