Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees as angry mob storms Rashtrapati Bhavan
Categories: US NEWS
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees as angry mob storms Rashtrapati Bhavan
In a dramatic escalation of the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka, a top defense source who spoke on condition of anonymity to AFP has confirmed that the country's beleaguered President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence in the capital on Saturday in front of protesters Huh. There was chaos in the campus demanding his resignation.
The insider claimed that the president was "taken to safety" and that soldiers opened fire in the air to prevent mobs of angry people from entering the presidential palace. In one of the largest anti-government demonstrations in the troubled country this year, thousands of protesters broke police barricades to attack the president's official residence.
The protesters poured into Colombo's government district, yelling anti-presidential chants and tearing down multiple police barricades to get to Rajapaksa's home, reports Reuters citing a witness present at the scene.
Eyewitnesses claimed that despite the police firing in the air, the angry mob continued to surround the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The island, with a population of 22 million, is facing the greatest financial instability in seven decades, resulting from a severe foreign exchange shortage that has restricted imports of fuel, food and medicine.
President Gotabaya and the Rajapaksa clan have been blamed for the nation's downfall. Since March, mostly peaceful demonstrations have called for his resignation. However, as the cash-strapped country stopped receiving fuel shipments, closed schools and rationed gasoline and diesel for basic services, discontent grew worse.