BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th July, 2022) The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry on Monday denied that troops are headed to the a tent camp of protesters located in the Galle Face area in the center of Colombo to allegedly disperse demonstrators.
"Social media reports about a large number of troops heading to the protest site in Galle Face are false," Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Shavendra Silva was quoted as saying by the Ada Derana news portal.
The general said that a fake and staged video disseminated through social networks "was created by someone with specific goals."
Colombo, Sri Lanka's commercial capital, was rocked by thousand-strong protests this past weekend, caused by public dissatisfaction with the government's efficiency in fighting the economic crisis. Angry crowds tore through barricades surrounding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's residence, climbed over a fence and took control of the area. The president was evacuated and, according to media reports, could have left the country by plane. At least 100 people, including police officers and journalists, were injured as a result of the protests, local doctors said.
Following the unrest, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe called an emergency meeting of party leaders, who demanded that both the prime minister and president resign immediately and the parliament convene within 7 days to appoint an acting president. Parliament speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeiwardana was assigned to become the country's interim leader.
On Monday, Rajapaksa officially informed Wickremesinghe of his intention to step down on July 13.
