The Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe attempted to blame the "extremists who had come outside" for the anti-Muslim violence in Kandy. 

Several Muslim shops, mosques and homes were attacked this week by Sinhala mobs roaming through villages in the region. 

The UN office in Colombo today condemned the violence perpetrated by Sinhala mobs against the Muslim community in Kandy. 

Calling for immediate action to be taken against the perpetrators and that normalcy is returned, the UN Colombo office said, "The United Nations also urges authorities, and all citizens to ensure that the rule of law is upheld, human rights are protected, and security and safety is ensured for all." 

In an unexplained move, Sri Lanka's Telecommunications and Regulatory Commission has ordered service providers to block mobile internet access in the violence struck region of Kandy. 

Earlier today, Sri Lanka’s largest mobile internet provider, in a tweet that has now been deleted, announced that mobile internet access had been restricted in the region following orders from the Commission.

The Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena on Monday pledged to protect local industries, stating he would not allow any Foreign Direct Investment at their detriment. 

Making these comments at a meeting with ministers and industry leaders, Mr Sirisena said he had given instructions to the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka to not allow any foreign investment that would be a challenge to local industries. 

Sri Lankan authorities must ensure that human rights are upheld, Amnesty International said today, after the government declared a statement of emergency following Sinhala mob led attacks against Muslims in Kandy. 

The United National Under Secretary General for political affairs, Jeffrey Feltman is to visit Sri Lanka on March 9, the UN spokesperson announced on Tuesday as the country declared a state of emergency over anti-Muslim riots in Kandy. 

Muslim businesses and mosques were burnt by Sinhala mobs. Twenty-four people have been arrested, however tensions in the region remain high with ongoing reports of Muslim shops, mosques and home facing attacks. 

A Sri Lankan brigadier who threatened Tamil protestors in London will be attending a five-month course in China to “better his professional prospects”, according to the military.

Tamil Civil Society organisations across the North-East of Sri Lanka have unequivocally condemned recent incidents of anti-Muslim violence that occurred earlier this week.

Slamming the government’s failure to address impunity of previous incidents of anti-muslim violence, a statement released today, said,

The Sri Lankan government has declared a state of emergency across the island for at least 10 days, after Sinhala mobs launched a deadly anti-Muslim riot in Kandy yesterday.

The Sri Lankan military announced that it had opened a new “utility building complex” for soldiers stationed at the Sri Lankan Security Force Headquarters in Kilinochchi.

Anti-Muslim violence in Kandy has resulted in a district-wide police curfew and closure of schools across the district as well as the deployment of Special Task Force troops.

The violence in the Digana and Teldeniya areas of Kandy occurred after a Sinhalese man died, allegedly after a road-rage incident led to an altercation between the deceased and a group of Muslim men.

Sri Lanka’s ambassador to China slammed “the imperial powers of the West” for exploiting “occupied countries” in an exclusive interview to China’s state news agency Xinhua this week, as Colombo looks to build stronger relations with Beijing.

Sri Lankan parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa was a controversial participant at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Forum in London this week, taking part in discussions around conflict resolution and preventing sexual violence despite his continued denial of human rights abuses committed by Sri Lankan troops.

The Chief Minister of the Northern Province has called on the Indian government to “apply political pressure” on Sri Lanka in order to bring about a political solution to the ethnic conflict on the island.

Speaking at a farewell dinner in Jaffna to honour outgoing Indian Consul General A Nadarajan, Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran said that “India needs to be robust in its foreign policy with Sri Lanka in order to find a lasting solution to the ethnic conflict”.