State schools across Sri Lanka have reopened on Monday, after being shut down for two weeks following the Easter Sunday terror attacks. Police and military have conducted security sweeps ahead of students returning to school, ensuring the grounds are safe. Catholic schools and churches across Sri Lanka remain closed, as authorities fear more terror attacks could occur. 253 people were killed in the bombings, two of whom were Australian.

Two men have been arrested as tensions continue to rise between Christian and Muslim groups in the Sri Lankan town where one of the Easter bombings took place.

St Sebastian’s church in Negombo, a Catholic-dominated town, was one of the locations targeted as part of a series of suicide bombings last month that killed more than 250 people.

Since the Negombo bombing there have been increasingly violent clashes in the seaside town, with Muslim-owned shops, homes and vehicles attacked and vandalised.

The attacks, believed to be carried out by a mostly-Catholic mob, have become so bad hundreds of extra troops were deployed to the town to impose a curfew on residents.

Social media was also shut down in a bid to quell the rising tensions and prevent “rumours” inflaming religious tensions even further.

Facebook and WhatsApp were temporarily blocked by the Government.

A.M. Jeffry, a Muslim resident of Porutota village near Negombo, said the attackers burned a three-wheel taxi and a motorbike.

Rizwan Jeffry, a gem seller who is not related, said about 400 people rampaging in the streets attacked his shop. Some took precious stones kept in showcases, he said.

It is unclear how the dispute began, but some residents claim a private argument between two parties took a religious turn.

Several people were reportedly injured in the violent clash.

Two arrests were made in connection with the incident and more suspects have been identified through CCTV footage, local police said.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a statement the Government would compensate those who lost property.

Unverified video circulating on social media shows mobs throwing stones at Muslim businesses, destroyed furniture inside homes, shattered windows and overturned vehicles.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said on Monday the curfew was lifted after the violence was brought under control.

“There were no fresh incidents in the past 24 hours in and around Negombo,” Mr Gunasekera said, adding security forces had stepped up search operations in the area.

The violent attacks prompted Sri Lanka’s Roman Catholic Church to call for the hostility against Muslims to end.

“I appeal to all Catholic and Christian brothers and sisters not to hurt even a single Muslim person because they are our brothers, because they are part of our religious culture,” said Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo.

“Therefore please avoid hurting them and try to create a better spirit of understanding and good relations between all the communities of Sri Lanka.”

During a visit to Negombo, the cardinal also called for a ban on liquor in the town.

“As a temporary measure, the cardinal asked the Government to order the ban on liquor sales in Negombo area,” his spokesman Father Edmund Tilakaratne said.

Negombo suffered the highest death toll in the Easter Sunday attacks that were claimed by the Islamic State group. The bomb at St Sebastian’s killed more than 100 worshippers.

Public schools reopened on Monday for the first time since the Easter attacks, with heavily armed police and troops guarding schools. Attendance was poor, officials said.

The country has been under a state of emergency since the Easter bombings, with security forces and police given sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects.

Authorities said they were holding 73 people, including nine women, in connection with the April 21 bombings.

The Government has blamed the Easter bombings on a local jihadist organisation that had pledged allegiance to IS.

Police said the suicide bombers had about 140 million rupees ($A1.1 million) in cash and a further $40 million in assets that will be confiscated under tough anti-terror laws.