Sri Lankan forces raid protest camp as new leaders are sworn in

Videos show soldiers armed with assault rifles tearing down tents

A protester holds a national flag near the Sri Lankan presidential secretariat, after soldiers forcibly evicted protesters from the premises, in Colombo. EPA

Sri Lankan security forces raided protesters occupying government grounds in Colombo on Friday.

Soldiers in riot gear and armed with assault rifles tore down their camp, videos shared online showed.

They partially cleared the camp, which was set up in April by protesters angry over the country's economic collapse that has led to shortages of fuel, food and medicine.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister, was sworn in as president on Thursday after winning a parliamentary vote to succeed Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The raid led to fears that Mr Wickremesinghe had launched a crackdown a day after being sworn in.

"A joint operation involving the military, police and police special forces was launched in the early hours to recover the presidential secretariat from the protesters as they have no legal right to hold it," police representative Nalin Thalduwa told Reuters.

Mr Rajapaksa fled to Singapore last week after mass protests triggered by Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis in seven decades.

Hours after the raid, veteran politician and Rajapaksa ally Dinesh Gunawardena was sworn in as Sri Lanka's new prime minister.

Seventeen other ministers completed the Cabinet, with former finance minister Ali Sabry becoming foreign minister, while sources said Mr Wickremesinghe would keep the finance portfolio.

Nine people arrested in the pre-dawn raid were later granted bail by a Colombo court, police said.

Protesters had feared a crackdown after Mr Wickremesinghe as acting head of state on Monday imposed a national state of emergency. Many regard him as an ally of Mr Rajapaksa.

Previous emergency regulations have been used to give powers to the military to arrest protesters and curtail the right to demonstrate.

A representative of the UN and western envoys urged the government to exercise restraint, saying the use of force could further destabilise the island nation, whose economy desperately needs an International Monetary Fund bailout, having virtually run out of dollars to pay for vital imports.

Inside Sri Lanka Presidential palace — in pictures

Police examine damage at a conference hall during an investigation at the President's Palace in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Bloomberg

Police officers during the investigation at the palace in Colombo. Bloomberg

Crime investigation officers at the palace after protesters on July 14 left the premises, ending a five-day occupation of several official buildings. The parliament of Sri Lanka on July 15 accepted the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled to Singapore after months of anti-government protests. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as interim president on July 15. EPA

One of the bedrooms at the President's Palace after protesters vacated the site. EPA

Crime investigation officers in the palace after the protesters' occupation. EPA

Officers inspect the palace for damage. EPA

Sri Lankan special task force soldiers on duty in the palace. EPA

Crime investigation officers in one of the bedrooms at the palace. EPA

The occupation of the palace followed months of anti-government protests fuelled by the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. EPA

The US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, said she had met the new president to express "grave concern" over the violence against protesters in Colombo on Friday.

"This is not the time to crack down on citizens, but instead to look ahead at the immediate and tangible steps the government can take to regain the trust of the people, restore stability, and rebuild the economy," Ms Chung wrote on Twitter.

Angered by the pre-dawn raids, hundreds of protesters marched from the city's main railway station towards the Galle Face protest site, where military and riot police manning barricades held them back.

"The very first day he used the armed forces — this is the face of Ranil Wickremesinghe," said Rajeevkanth Rajkumar, a construction company executive who was among the protesters. "We don't want any more innocent people to be injured. But we will go to that place [the protest site] at any cost."

Opposition politician Anura Dissanayake, who lost the vote for the presidency, said on Twitter: "Let's bring down the brutal ... regime that viciously attacked the protesters at Galle Face".

Soon after midnight on Friday, hundreds of security personnel had surrounded the "Gota Go Gama" protest camp, mockingly named after Rajapaksa, and then had begun to tear down tents in front of the secretariat, according to protest organisers.

'They beat us cruelly'

Security forces appeared to have taken control of the entire secretariat, which was earlier this month seized by protesters along with the president and prime minister's official residences. The residences were later handed back to government authorities.

At least 50 protesters were injured in Friday's clashes, the organisers said, including some journalists who were beaten by security forces. Hospital sources said two were hospitalised.

"They beat us really cruelly," said Buddhika Abeyrathne, 34, a protester who witnessed the raid but did not appear injured himself. "Mr Wickremesinghe doesn’t know what democracy is."