Sri Lankan Army Evacuates Ex-Prime Minister from His Mob besieged residence

COLOMBO, KOMPAS.com – Heavily armed forces evacuate Prime Minister Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa from his official residence in Colombo, after thousands of protesters broke through the main gate.

The protesters who forced their way into the official residence of Temple Trees belonged to Prime Ministerthen attempted to storm the two-story main building on Tuesday (10/5/2022) where Rajapaksa was hiding with his close family.

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“After the pre-dawn operation, the former PM and his family were evacuated to a safe place by the army,” a top security official told the news agency. AFP.

“At least 10 petrol bombs were thrown into the compound.”

Rajapaksa’s evacuation to an undisclosed location came after a day of violent protests that left five people dead and nearly 200 injured.

The severity of the unrest marked the immediate downfall of the man who had dominated Sri Lankan politics for nearly 20 years.

Reported from Al Jazeerasecurity officials said police continued to fire tear gas and fired warning shots into the air to detain protesters at all three entrances to the colonial-era building, a key symbol of state power.

Elsewhere, dozens of properties linked to Rajapaksa loyalists were burned and mobs attacked the controversial Rajapaksa museum in the family’s ancestral village in the island’s south, razing it to the ground, police said.

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Two wax figures of Rajapaksa’s parents were also destroyed.

The sudden spike in violence occurred despite the curfew and the national emergency imposed on Friday (6/5/2022).

An emergency order from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the outgoing prime minister’s younger brother, gives the military immense power amid vocal demands for him to step down due to the country’s deepening economic crisis.

Sri Lankan protesters and religious leaders blamed the former prime minister for inciting his family supporters to attack other unarmed protesters on Monday (9/5/2022) and sparked violence.

Read also: Sri Lanka protests worsen: MPs killed, prime minister resigns

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