5 injured in Buddhist mob attack on mosque in Colombo

At least five people have been reportedly injured in a mosque attack carried out by a Buddhist mob in the Grandpass area of Sri Lankan capital Colombo.

According to the BBC, Buddhists and Muslims have been known to clash in the recent past over their respective faiths and hardline Buddhist groups have mounted a campaign against Muslim and Christian targets.

Saturday's attack saw several houses damaged along with two policemen injured who were guarding the mosque.

The report said that Buddhists and Muslims clashed after the attack and police imposed a curfew in the area.

A Muslim resident said that the Buddhist mob threw stones at the mosque when worshippers were performing evening prayers.

Buddhists monks had reportedly protested against the presence of the mosque but had agreed to allow Muslims to continue praying there until the end of Ramzan.

However, Muslims of the respective area said that Sri Lanka's religious affairs ministry had given them permission to continue using the site and had also provided special police security due to the threat of possible attacks.

Buddhist hardliners accuse Muslims and Christians of promoting extremism and trying to convert Buddhists to their own faiths while the groups deny the claims, the report added.