On May 10, local time, the death toll in Sri Lanka's local anti-government demonstrations has risen to 8, and the government has asked the army to "shoot and kill" lawbreakers.
Screenshot of the BBC report
Previously, anti-government demonstrations in Sri Lanka had been going on for weeks as they faced the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, with people demanding president Gotabaya's ouster. Recently, 26 ministers in Sri Lanka's cabinet have collectively resigned, and 41 parliamentarians have also "fled" to break away from the ruling coalition, resulting in the current government losing its majority in parliament.
On the afternoon of the 9th local time, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the prime minister of Sri Lanka and the brother of Gotabaya, announced his resignation, but he also failed to calm the public anger. That night, thousands of demonstrators tried to break into the Prime Minister's Office in the capital, Colombo, where large-scale bloodshed erupted. The anger of the crowds also spread to other politicians, and more than 50 politicians' properties were burned overnight.
On the 10th, a demonstrator held up burning bread in front of the Colombo President's office to protest the rising cost of living. Image credit: AFP
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), in order to control the situation, the Sri Lankan government ordered security forces to open fire on anyone who robbed public property or caused "life injury" on the 10th. In addition, the government has deployed tens of thousands of army, navy and air force personnel to patrol the streets of Colombo, and the island-wide curfew has been extended to the morning of the 12th local time. The streets of Colombo have calmed down, but there are still traces of protests around the city, from buses thrown into the lake to smashed car windows and burning tires.
Cars burned down on the streets of Colombo. Image source: BBC
Despite this, Deshabandu Tennakoon, the highest-ranking police officer in Colombo City and deputy superintendent of the Western Province, was beaten by a group of thugs on the afternoon of the 10th and accused of not doing enough to protect peaceful protesters. In addition, in the Galle Face Greenland near the Colombo coastline, protest crowds continued to gather.
In the north-east of the country, protesters gathered in front of the Trincomalee naval base over unconfirmed reports that Mahinda had gone there with her family after escaping from her residence in Colombo.
Sri Lankan police said the incident had killed eight people. The main hospital in Colombo revealed that more than 200 people had been injured this week.
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