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Sri Lanka: Curfew in town of bombed church after clash, Police discover 10-acre training camp for Islamist militants

Sri Lanka military spokesman Brig. Sumith Atapattu says a police curfew has been imposed in Negombo, a seaside town outside the capital, Colombo, after several people were injured in the first reported clash since the Easter bombings two weeks ago that killed more than 250 people.
Atapattu told The Associated Press that the fight Sunday was between ethnic Sinhalese people and Muslim people.

He declined to say whether there were any arrests. The curfew is in effect until 7 a.m. Monday.

St. Sebastian's Church in majority-Catholic Negombo was among the six sites bombed in the Islamic State group-linked attack.

According to ABC reports, ethnic clashes aren't new to Sri Lanka. A civil war between rebels from the island nation's minority Tamil community and the Buddhist Sinhalese-majority government ended in 2009.

Reuters reports that Sri Lankan police on Sunday discovered a 10-acre camp in the eastern town of Kattankudy, where Islamist militants linked to the deadly Easter attacks are believed to have practised shooting and bomb making.

The walled terrain is nestled in a poor residential area on the outskirts of the home town of Zahran Hashim, who is believed to have been a key player in plotting the April 21 attacks. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the church and hotel bombings that killed more than 250 people.

The narrow, sandy plot is dotted with a cinderblock four-storey watchtower, as well as mango trees, a chicken coop and a goat shed.

“They wanted to show this place was normal. If someone comes to see, it looks like a farm. But what they were doing is terrorism,” said a senior police officer in the Batticaloa area, asking to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak to media.


Police found bullet holes in the wall on one side of the grounds, as well as long tubes suspected of holding bombs, the officer said.

Two owners of the plot of land have been arrested, the officer said.


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