Sri Lanka prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had to be rescued by heavily armed troops from his official residence in Colombo this morning after thousands of protesters stormed the main gates.
Protesters then tried to force their way into ‘Temple Trees’ – the two-storey colonial-era building that serves as the Lankan PM’s home and where his family and he were sheltering.
How did Sri Lankan forces evacuate ex PM Rajapaksa?
Police fired tear gas and warning shots in the air to hold back mobs as security forces moved Rajapaksa and his family out of ‘Temple Trees’.
Protesters had set fire to a truck used by the military to try and block the main gate and security forces’ access to the compound.
“After a pre-dawn operation, the former PM and his family were evacuated to safety by the army,” a security official told news agency AFP. “At least 10 petrol bombs were thrown into the compound.”
Some of the tear gas canisters fired by Lankan forces also hit the US embassy compound across the road, but there were no reports of casualties.
Where is Mahinda Rajapaksa now?
He has been moved to an undisclosed location, officials told AFP.
What happened?
Sri Lanka this week saw its most violent protests yet as the island nation battles its worst economic crisis in living memory. At least eight have died so far, news agency PTI reported, and over 200 have been injured in clashes with forces.
One of the dead is a MP from the ruling party – Amarakeerthi Athukorala – who reportedly shot himself after killing two people, including a 27-year-old man.
The ancestral home of the Rajapaksas, in the southern Hambantota district, was set on fire, as were dozens of buildings belonging to his loyalists and others.
“This is something we should have done earlier,” a man in front of a minister’s burning home told local media. “We are sorry we couldn’t burn it sooner.”
Faced with increasingly violent demonstrations, Rajapaksa on Monday quit his post after clashes between those loyal to him and the protestors.