Sri Lanka: Troops evacuate outgoing PM amid unrest

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was escorted out of his official residence, known as Temple Trees on Tuesday, after the army prevented several attempts by protesters to break in overnight.

Rajapaksa stepped down from his position on Monday amid the worst economic crisis Sri Lanka has seen since independence in 1948. He had declared a state of emergency last week. 

Troops were deployed in the capital Colombo on Monday after opponents and supporters of the Rajapaksa government clashed outside the president's office.

A curfew has been put in place, with only essential workers allowed outside. Police and the military have been given powers to detain people without warrants. 

What happened in the clashes in Sri Lanka?

Authorities imposed a nationwide curfew to quell the unrest after dozens of people were hospitalized in the biggest clashes witnessed in weeks of anti-government protests. . 

Police reported at least five people killed, and about 200 were injured in the clashes, as of Tuesday morning. 

Protesters burned down more than 70 houses and offices of former ministers and ruling party lawmakers and over 150 vehicles have been burned or damaged.

On Monday, ruling-party legislator Amarakeerthi Athukorala opened fire on demonstrators blocking his vehicle, killing a 27-year-old man and wounding two others.

Authorities said the lawmaker later took his own life, but the party said he had been murdered. Athukorala's bodyguard was also killed, but it was not clear how.

A politician from Rajapaksa's party who has not been named shot dead two and wounded three people in the southern town of Weeraketiya on Monday. He has since gone missing.

Mobs attacked a museum about the Rajapaksas in the village of Meda Mulana in southern Sri Lanka. Two wax statues of the brothers' parents were flattened. The building as well as their nearby ancestral home were trashed.

Why are there protests in Sri Lanka?

Sri Lankans have suffered months of blackouts and dire shortages of food, fuel and medicines, sparking weeks of what had been largely peaceful anti-government protests.

The protesters had been camped outside the office of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for a month, calling for both the president and premier, who are brothers, to resign.

The government hopes to restructure the country's huge debts and is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and is seeking further financial help from China and India. 

tg/rt (dpa, AP, Reuters)