Sri Lanka's Muslims face mob attacks, Saudis warned to evacuate

New Delhi:  Around 1000 Muslim refugees in Sri Lanka have been forced to flee their homes in the face of retaliatory attacks linked to the Easter Sunday bombings, according to Human Rights Watch.

Mobs have threatened to destroy the houses of Afghans, Pakistanis and Iranians - mostly part of minority Muslim sects such as the Ahmadiyya - who had fled to Sri Lanka following persecution in their homelands. Some have reported being beaten by gangs.

A soldier stands guard amid Catholics attending Mass outside St Joseph's church in Thannamunai, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday.Credit: AP

A small number of Christian refugees have also been caught up in attacks through mistaken identity.

"The people in Pakistan attacked us and say we're not Muslims," said Tariq Ahmed, 58, a Pakistani -Ahmadiyya. "Then in Sri Lanka, people attack us because they say we are Muslims."

Around 650 refugees sought shelter at a mosque in Pasyala, near Negombo. Others are staying in police stations or schools, while 30 Iranians barricaded themselves inside their homes.

Human Rights Watch called on the Sri Lankan government to protect its 1600 asylum seekers, as well as the broader population. The government declared a state of emergency - including a curfew and a ban on clothing that conceals the face - in the aftermath of the attacks that left 253 people dead.

Sri Lankans light candles and pray outside St Anthony's Church in Colombo, Sri Lanka.Credit: AP

On Wednesday it lifted a temporary ban on social media, a clampdown that had been intended to prevent the spread of misinformation after the bombings that killed more than 250 people, including 42 foreign nationals, on April 21.

It is unclear how effective the ban has been at curbing unrest, or whether information spread on social media has contributed to the reports of attacks on Muslims.

For days, the capital Colombo was on lockdown with nightly curfews and army personnel deployed along largely empty roads. Recently, life has started slowly returning to normal, but security forces said that they are continuing to comb the country in "house-to-house searches" for people linked to the six attacks on churches and hotels.

Sri Lankan policeman on patrol in a Muslim neighbourhood in Colombo.Credit: AP

But government officials and a top US diplomat are warning that members of the Islamic State-linked group behind the attacks may still be at large and planning more strikes.

Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne told reporters on Tuesday that he and seven other government ministers were warned that they have been identified as targets of possible additional suicide attacks and told to stay home.

The US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina Teplitz, said her country believes that more attacks may be in the planning stages.

A Sri Lankan Muslim boy looks out from the window of a Mosque before Friday prayers in Colombo.Credit: AP

"We certainly have reason to believe that the active attack group has not been fully rendered inactive," Teplitz said in an interview with Reuters. "We do believe that there is active planning underway."

Saudi Arabia has advised its nationals to leave, Al Ekhbariya state TV said on Tuesday, local time, citing the kingdom's embassy in Colombo.

"Due to the current security situation in the Republic of Sri Lanka, the embassy advises citizens in Sri Lanka to leave," the embassy said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, a small village in eastern Sri Lanka held likely the first Mass since Catholic leaders closed all their churches for fear of further attacks. Under incredibly tight security, worshippers watched a priest be ordained as they hoped for a future when Mass wouldn't require hundreds of troops armed with assault rifles to defend it.

"People wanted to celebrate Mass, they wanted to participate in this, but they - even myself - were afraid," Father Norton Johnson told journalists. "However, security personnel gave us good protection."

The Mass in Thannamunai, about 225 kilometers north-east of Colombo, had been planned at least two weeks earlier to mark the ordination with the participation of some 200 priests. They had expected thousands to attend the ceremony at St Joseph's Catholic Church.

But the invitations for the ordination already had been sent out. After confirming with the military, Johnson and other Catholic leaders agreed to quietly hold the Mass for the community.

What had been expected to be a crowd of 3000 turned into several hundred. The 200 priests expected instead became 80. But still they came on Tuesday morning, the priests laying their hands on the new priest's forehead as he knelt before them.

Security personnel remained tense, in part because Thannamunai is wedged between Muslim neighbourhoods and authorities believe militants remain at large.

Telegraph, London; AP, agencies