(Reuters) – Sri Lankan armed forces raided a camp set up by anti-government protesters in the capital Colombo, media reported on Friday, a day after the country’s new president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was sworn in.
Wickremesinghe issued a gazette notification on Thursday, calling for all members of the armed forces to maintain public order in several districts of the country from July 22. https://bit.ly/3b43L5Y
Several videos posted early Friday on social media showed armed forces marching towards tents. Security forces raided the main anti-government protest camp in Colombo and have begun pulling down tents, the BBC reported on Friday. https://bbc.in/3zontmi
Reuters could not independently verify the content of these videos.
“We’re receiving reports of ‘Gotagogama,’ the peaceful protest site in Colombo, Sri Lanka being attacked by the Police and the Military in the early hours of Friday after surrounding it and arresting demonstrators,” Amnesty International South Asia tweeted.
Sri Lankan lawmakers voted in acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new president on Wednesday, hoping his long experience in government can help pull the country out of a crippling economic and political crisis.
(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
