Thousands of soldiers had been sent to Colombo on Friday to reinforce the police guarding the official residence of Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence in Colombo on Saturday minutes before it was stormed by thousands of angry protesters, a defense source told AFP.
Private channel Sirasa TV showed footage of crowds storming into the heavily guarded presidential palace. The Defense source indicated that Mr. Rajapaksa was still the President of the country and that he was protected by the army in an undisclosed location.
#Watch: Sri Lanka protesters take over the Old Parliament building https://t.co/6tSy6uunbc pic.twitter.com/e8Z6nLRUKI
— NDTV (@ndtv) July 9, 2022
An indefinite curfew was declared Friday in the capital of Sri Lanka and the army was placed on alert on the eve of the rally planned to demand the departure of the disputed president. Thousands of anti-government protesters had flocked to the capital on Friday ahead of Saturday’s rally aimed at pressuring Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down from power amid the country’s worsening economic crisis.
$51 billion in debt
Thousands of troops armed with assault rifles had been bussed into Colombo earlier in the day to reinforce the police guarding Mr Rajapaksa’s official residence. “An operation involving nearly 20,000 soldiers and police was launched this afternoon,” a senior defense official told AFP on Friday. The UN has urged Sri Lankan authorities and protesters to ensure Saturday’s protests are peaceful.
The island nation is suffering from an unprecedented shortage of basic necessities and its 22 million people have endured runaway inflation and prolonged power cuts since the start of the year. For months, demonstrators have camped outside the presidential headquarters in Colombo to demand the resignation of Mr. Rajapaksa, whom they accuse of mismanagement.
Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt and entered bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund.