Sri Lankan troops ordered to shoot at those damaging public properties
The development came after a day of clashes that killed 7 and injured more than 200 in the island nation
The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry said that troops have been ordered on Tuesday to shoot all those who plunder public property or cause personal harm, Sri Lankan news outlet The Daily Mirror reported.
In a video statement, Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne urged the general public to refrain from such conduct.
He also gave an update on the casualties and property damages reported since the nationwide eruption of tensions yesterday.
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The defence secretary stated that a total of 08 lives were claimed amid the tense situation and while at least 219 individuals have sustained injuries.
The Lankan Police said 47 vehicles and 38 houses came under arson attack, while 41 vehicles and 65 houses had been severely damaged.
Most of the vehicles and houses destroyed belonged to former ministers or MPs of the ruling party.
However, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned Monday following weeks of protests demanding that he and his brother, the president, step down over the country's worst economic crisis in decades.
Earlier today, the lethal protests began in front of Sri Lanka's Trincomalee Naval Base on Tuesday after reports emerged that the now-former Sri Lankan PM Mahinda and his entire family have been hiding at the Navy's Trincomalee naval base amid heavy military security.
He has been taken with the help of a helicopter to Trincomalee, a naval base in the northeastern region of the country. On the other hand, now the protesters have also reached the naval base which is at a distance of 270 km from the capital Colombo.
As the country battles its worst economic crisis in history, thousands of protesters had defied curfew to attack government figures, setting ablaze homes, shops and businesses belonging to ruling party lawmakers and provincial politicians.
The government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the younger brother of the Prime Minister, outlined broad powers for the military and police to detain and question people without arrest warrants. The president had already declared a state of emergency on Friday as protests escalated.
The military can detain people for up to 24 hours before handing them to police, while private property can be searched by force, including private vehicles, the government said in a gazette notification on Tuesday.
The attacks on government figures came in apparent reprisal for an incident just hours before Rajapaksa's resignation. He spoke to hundreds of supporters gathered at his official residence on Monday following reports that he was considering stepping down.
After his remarks, many of them, armed with iron bars, stormed a camp of those protesting against the government, beating them and setting fire to their tents.
Police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse the skirmishers, after having initially done little to hold back the government supporters, according to Reuters witnesses.
Thousands streamed into the streets in celebration after Rajapaksa's resignation, but the mood quickly became tense.
Protesters attempted to tear down the gates of Temple Trees, his residence in the centre of Colombo, where broken glass and discarded footwear littered the surrounding streets on Tuesday, after some of the night's worst clashes.
Military troops patrolled the area, where eight torched vehicles lay partially submerged in a lake. Discarded files and smashed equipment littered the ransacked offices of government officials.
