To Ensure National Security Sri Lanka Bans Face Covering Including Burqas

After the Easter attacks, Sri Lanka has banned all forms of facial coverings including burqas.

To ensure national security, this decision has been taken by Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena, a week after Islamist attacks that killed more than 250 people.

To ensure public safety, the restriction will come into effect from today (April 29).

"The ban is to ensure national security. No one should obscure their faces to make identification difficult", the statement said.

It came days after local Islamic clerics urged Muslim women not to cover their faces amid fears of a backlash after the bombings carried out by jihadists affiliated to the Islamic State group.

Muslims in the majority Buddhist nation account for about 10 percent of its 21 million population. Only a small number of muslim women wear the niqab.