This move comes after months of chaos in the country, which saw a new President elected.
Sri Lankan security personnel raided a protest camp against the government in Colombo’s presidential building on Friday, amid an ongoing political crisis that has raged for months.
“The military, police, and special police forces launched a joint operation in the early hours of today to get the presidential secretariat back from protesters.,” police spokesperson Nalin Thalduwa told Reuters news agency.
Police say that the raid resulted in nine arrests and two people were hurt. The protest organizers claim at most 50 were wounded, which includes journalists. They claimed they also planned to peacefully surrender the presidency offices. The police did not know of this intention.
Demonstrators said that authorities had used violence against them.We were really beaten by themReuters was told by an activist that he said “Mr Wickremesinghe doesn’t know what democracy isHe said so.
Video footage appears to show soldiers dressed in riot gear marching toward the Gota Go Gama camp that has been established since April. The name of the camp makes an apparent reference to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s former president, and calls for his resignation.
After Ranil Wickremesinghe, the ex-president fled the country and resigned on Thursday, the president was elected. Sri Lanka is experiencing unrest since several months due to record-breaking inflation and severe fuel and food shortages.
The crisis has been blamed on the Covid-19 pandemic, which cut tourist revenue for the island, and Rajapaksa’s ban on chemical fertilizers, which was a major blow to the agricultural sector.
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