Sri Lanka Protesters Storm Presidential Villa

Thousands of protesters in Sri Lanka’s commercial capital Colombo broke through police barricades and stormed the president’s official residence.

According to report, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was removed from the official premises for his safety ahead of the planned rally over the weekend.

A Facebook live stream from inside the president’s house showed hundreds of protesters, some draped in flags, packing into rooms and corridors, shouting slogans against Rajapaksa.

While hundreds also milled about on the grounds outside the colonial-era white-washed building.

At least 21 people, including two policemen, were injured and hospitalised in the ongoing protests, report says.

Economic Crisis
The island of 22 million people is struggling under a severe foreign exchange shortage that has limited essential imports of fuel, food, and medicine, plunging it into the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.

Many blame the country’s decline on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and held peaceful protests since March have demanded his resignation.

Political instability could undermine Sri Lanka’s talks with the International Monetary Fund seeking a $3 billion bailout, a restructuring of some foreign debt, and fund-raising from multilateral and bilateral sources to ease the dollar drought.

REUTERS/CO