Troops also used water cannons to push back demonstrators who breached the security barricades near the presidential palace
Protesters gather inside the Sri Lanka’s presidential palace in Colombo in this July 9 2022 file photo. Picture: BLOOMBERG/VIA AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Civil-rights activists, religious leaders, artists and others, from across the South Asian island are gathering on Saturday at an oceanfront protest site that has sprung up near the presidential residence in the capital, Colombo. Sri Lanka is in the worst tailspin of its independent history, with inflation seen hitting 70%. It has been facing shortages of everything from fuel to medicine for months, prompting protests that led to the resignations of all the Rajapaksa family members who were in the government, except for the president.
Late on Friday, police imposed a curfew in and around parts of Colombo after thousands of university students, who had marched towards Rajapaksa’s residence, were teargassed. Police chief CD Wickramaratne — who told a briefing this week that authorities wouldn’t stop any peaceful rallies — said in a statement on Saturday that the curfew would be lifted by 8am.
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