COLOMBO: On Friday, Sri Lankan security forces destroyed the major anti-government protest camp in the nation’s capital, evicting protesters in a attack that stoked fears about dissent under the country’s new pro-Western president in the crisis-ridden nation.
People blocking the Colombo seafront presidential secretariat were attacked by soldiers and police Special Task Force commandos with assault rifles and batons.
The colonial-era building’s protestors’ tents and barricades were dismantled by hundreds of soldiers as the last demonstrators left the area — some of whom were still on the steps — were chased out with batons.
The operation took place hours before the new president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, selected the former head of state’s personal attorney as foreign minister and an old buddy as prime minister.Wickremesinghe was chosen by parliament as president on Wednesday to succeed Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned and fled to Singapore after being pursued from his palace by protesters.
The remaining demonstrators, who are far less in number than the tens of thousands that stormed government buildings earlier this month, have been calling for Wickremesinghe to resign as well. They charge him with defending the Rajapaksa family, which has mostly controlled politics for the past two decades.
Police commandos and troops had walled the compound and had closed off the main access roads. At a nearby designated demonstration location, hundreds of protestors protested the military action and demanded Wickremesinghe resign, dissolve parliament, and enable new elections.
