Sri Lankan troops conducted a dramatic operation before dawn today to rescue Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned as the country’s prime minister yesterday.
For weeks protests have erupted over an unprecedented economic crisis. Yesterday saw the worst of the violence in weeks. Five were killed, and nearly 200 wounded on Monday.
Demonstrations continued today, with hundreds of anti-government protesters defying the nationwide curfew in place to gather in the streets outside of the office of the president, whois the brother of the now former prime minister, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Mahinda reluctantly stepped down in a bid to placate the protesters, who are accusing the government of mishandling the economy and bankrupting the country.
But the prime minister’s resignation did very little to calm the anger.
Late on Monday night, the protesters tried to force into the Temple Tree, which is the official residence of the prime minister. All the way into the main part of the building where the prime minister was holed up with his family.
At least 10 petrol bombs were thrown into the compound according to a security official.
The homes of more than 40 pro-Rajapaksa politicians were set on fire. Burned out cars and buses littered the streets today.
A state of emergency was declared over the weekend, and now the military has sweeping powers of arrest.
Rajapaksa supporters have been blamed for turning the protests violent, sparking retaliatory attacks. Many have come in from outside of the city and violently attacked an anti-government protest, according to reports.
Gotabaya urged people to remain calm and stop violence, as well as to stop acts of revenge.
The United Nations has condemned the violence. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called on authorities to prevent further unrest, and said she was deeply troubled by the escalation of violence.
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