Security forces in Sri Lanka raided the main anti-government protest camp in the capital early Friday, arresting protesters and demolishing tents. Hundreds of soldiers and police commandos surrounded the protestors outside the presidential office in Colombo hours before they left the area.
Nine people, including two injured, have been arrested by police. Police described the incident as a “special operation to take back control of the presidential secretariat”.
Ranil Wickremesinghe took the oath of office Thursday after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country last week.
Mr Wickremesinghe – the former prime minister – is seen as profoundly unpopular with the public and has vowed strict action against the protesters. Senior politician Dinesh Gunawardene, a long-time loyalist of Rajapaksa, took oath as the new prime minister on Friday, replacing Wickremesinghe’s old post.
Sri Lanka has seen months of widespread unrest over the economic crisis, and many blame the former government for mishandling the country’s finances.
The protests had been peaceful after Wickremesinghe was sworn in on Thursday. Despite deep distrust, many protesters said they would give them a chance to lift the country out of the economic crisis.
After his inauguration, he said that any attempt to topple or take over government buildings was “not democracy, it is against the law”.
On Friday morning, security forces went to the protest camp and removed the building from the protesters, who had earlier promised to hand the building back.
The raid occurred early on Friday, around 01:00 local time (19:30 GMT on Thursday). The security forces later completely sealed a section of the road leading to the spot. The tension between the two groups continued in the afternoon, and nearly 100 protesters stood against security forces queuing up near the President’s office.