{"id":1422835,"date":"2022-04-06T23:14:49","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T03:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1422835"},"modified":"2022-04-06T23:14:55","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T03:14:55","slug":"sri-lanka-police-clash-with-army-soldiers-during-protests-in-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sri-lanka-police-clash-with-army-soldiers-during-protests-in-capital\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka: Police Clash with Army Soldiers During Protests in Capital"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsri-lanka-police-clash-with-army-soldiers-during-protests-in-capital%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1422835&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">Sri Lankan police officers \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/breaking_news\/Police-officers-should-have-not-assaulted-army-officers-SF\/108-234650\">assaulted<\/a>\u201d a group of Sri Lankan soldiers on Tuesday after the servicemen approached Sri Lanka\u2019s parliament building in Colombo in an aggressive manner as part of an unannounced visit, Sri Lanka\u2019s <em>Daily Mirror<\/em>\u00a0reported on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Other Sri Lankan and regional outfits confirmed the incident, noting that the army officers were reportedly masked and unidentified as members of the armed forces, so police did not appear to intentionally attack the military.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cA group of masked soldiers holding assault rifles drove through the crowd on unmarked bikes at a protest near Parliament, in which children, women and the elderly were also participating,\u201d India\u2019s NDTV <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndtv.com\/world-news\/sri-lanka-crisis-sri-lankan-government-in-disarray-as-economic-crisis-deepens-10-points-2865347\">reported<\/a>. \u201cThis led to a verbal confrontation between the armed soldiers and the police when the officials tried to stop them, prompting Army Chief Shavendra Silva to call for an inquiry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Local reports <a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombopage.com\/archive_22A\/Apr05_1649182466CH.php\">indicate<\/a> that the army officers were acting on the orders of their superiors, but the army had not given the national police force any prior notice that soldiers were on the way. The police officers reportedly barred the soldiers from getting too close to the parliament building.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20542430\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/04\/wi\/ap\/05\/sri-lanka-economic-crisis-sri-lankans-protest-demanding-president-gotabaya-rajapaksa-resign-colombo.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sri Lankans protest demanding president Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. (AP Photo\/Eranga Jayawardena)<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cPolice officers who were at Poluwa junction near the parliamentary complex should not have assaulted the army officers who approached the area by motor cycles on Tuesday [April 5],\u201d Sri Lankan Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told Sri Lanka\u2019s parliament on April 6.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would have even opposed the army officers if they assaulted police officers,\u201d Foneska, who is also a member of the parliament of Sri Lanka, said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the same time I would like to say that Army officers should not have come in motor bikes without number plates. I don\u2019t know whether these officers were sent by someone but anyway their arrival in the scene cannot be justified,\u201d the high-ranking military officer added.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lanka\u2019s national parliament building in Colombo has served as the symbolic and literal center of heavy turmoil in recent days amid major changes to the island nation\u2019s government.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a national state of emergency on April 1 amid growing anti-government protests denouncing the country\u2019s dire financial crisis. The order followed hours after Rajapaksa <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/04\/01\/sri-lanka-mob-storms-presidents-house-country-runs-out-food-gasoline\/\">suffered<\/a> a threat to his personal safety when a thousands-strong mob surrounded his home in Colombo on March 31, demanding he resign.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cPublic anger is at a fever pitch, with crowds attempting to storm the homes of several government figures since the weekend and large demonstrations elsewhere in the country,\u201d Agence France-Press (AFP) detailed of Sri Lanka\u2019s protests on April 5.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17134280\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/07\/wi\/afp\/19\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-he-be-term-president-afp.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17134280\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-he-be-term-president-afp-1024x682-1.jpg\" alt=\"AFP\" width=\"646\" height=\"430\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sri Lanka\u2019s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa addresses the nation along with Army Commander Shavendra Silva, Navy Chief Nishantha Ulugetenne, and Airforce Chief Sudarshana Pathirana during the Sri Lanka\u2019s 73rd Independence Day celebrations in Colombo on February 4, 2021. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rajapaksa <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/live-news\/20220405-sri-lanka-president-loses-parliament-majority-as-protests-mount\">lost<\/a> his majority support in the Sri Lankan parliament on April 5. The development took place just 48 hours after nearly all of the president\u2019s cabinet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/asia\/south-asia\/sri-lanka-cabinet-resigns-after-protesters-defy-curfew\">resigned<\/a> en masse on April 3.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTuesday\u2019s parliamentary session was the first since dozens of MPs withdrew their support for Rajapaksa\u2019s government, including 16 lawmakers from the president\u2019s own Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) and its former coalition allies,\u201d AFP observed on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government is now five short of a majority in the 225-member House, but it was unclear whether legislators would attempt to introduce a no-confidence motion that would compel it to resign,\u201d the news agency noted.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lankan opposition parties rejected on April 4 President Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u2019s call to form a new unity administration led by Gotabaya and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, a former president himself and the president\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n<p>President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on April 5\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/world\/sri-lanka-economic-crisis-live-updates-gotabaya-rajapaksa-7853223\/\">revoked<\/a>\u00a0his country\u2019s state of emergency order. The edict had granted police the power to make arrests\u00a0without warrants and banned people from leaving their residences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a gazette notification number 2274\/10, the President said he has withdrawn the Emergency rule ordinance which gave security forces sweeping powers to curb any disturbance in the country,\u201d the <em>Indian Express<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lanka\u2019s financial crisis stems from a deficit of foreign currency reserves, upon which the island traditionally relies to purchase vital imported goods. Observers have blamed the Chinese coronavirus pandemic for cutting Sri Lanka off from its usual sources of foreign currency, namely the tourism industry and remittances from Sri Lankans working abroad. The fund crisis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/04\/05\/sri-lanka-protesters-demand-president-resign-in-los-angeles-new-york\/\">translated<\/a> to severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicines across Sri Lanka over the past month, with anti-government protests <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theweek.in\/theweek\/cover\/2022\/03\/24\/food-and-fuel-shortage-triggers-widespread-protests-in-sri-lanka.html?fbclid=IwAR3MM1uILjFYFSFiea8qt-1jWb1BpYPzBwyg_1Ya3SjzpDZrfOyx2mM2ZVI\">sparking<\/a> in early March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sri Lankan police officers \u201cassaulted\u201d a group of Sri Lankan soldiers on Tuesday after the servicemen approached Sri Lanka\u2019s parliament building in Colombo in an aggressive manner as part of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1422835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1422835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1422835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1422835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1422835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}