Sri Lanka Security Forces Violently Clear Protest Camp, Arrest Dozens

The major anti-government demonstration camp in the capital was destroyed by Sri Lankan security forces, who also forcibly removed activists in a late-night raid that alarmed the world community.

The operation took place just hours before Ranil Wickremesinghe, the nation's new president, swore in a new prime minister in an effort to control the financial crisis that has wracked the economy and sparked months of unrest.

Cops and soldiers Commandos from the Special Task Force swooped on demonstrators obstructing the Presidential Secretariat while brandishing automatic assault rifles and carrying batons.

The last few protestors on the property were removed, some of whom were still on the steps, as hundreds of military dismantled the barricades the demonstrators had erected outside the seafront building.

Wickremesinghe was chosen by lawmakers on Wednesday to succeed Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned and fled to Singapore after being forced out of his palace by protesters.

Fewer than the thousands of protestors who occupied multiple government buildings earlier this month, the remaining demonstrators have been calling on Wickremesinghe to resign and accused him of defending the Rajapaksa family, which has dominated politics for the majority of the last two decades.

By daybreak, the compound was surrounded by police commandos and troops carrying automatic assault rifles, and the main access roads were still closed.

At a nearby designated demonstration location, hundreds of people protested against the government's actions and demanded Wickremesinghe quit and dissolve parliament for new elections.

"Don't attack peaceful protesters, instead listen to us," said student Dimmithu, 26.

The activists insisted they would continue their struggle, and Basantha Samarasinghe, 45, a businessman and trade union leader, said: "The peoples' wish is system change, and parliament should be dissolved. It has no public mandate."

In a statement, police said: "Police and security forces acted to clear protesters occupying the Presidential Secretariat, the main gate and the surroundings. "Nine people were arrested. Two of them were injured."