Sri Lanka crisis: Ex-PM Mahinda Rajapaksa given protection amid violent clashes - key updates

The 76-year-old former president and prime minister is being given protection amidst nationwide protests over the government's failure to tackle the worst economic crisis. He was evacuated to the Trincomallee naval dockyard.

Colombo: Sri Lanka's ex-Prime Minister and former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa is being protected at the Trincomallee naval base, Defence Secretary Kamal Guneratne said on Wednesday (May 11). 

Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as prime minister on Monday amid unprecedented economic turmoil in the country, hours after his supporters attacked anti-government protesters, prompting authorities to impose a nationwide curfew and deploy Army troops in the capital. The attack triggered widespread violence against pro-Rajapaksa politicians.

Here are key updates from Sri Lanka:

- The 76-year-old former president and prime minister is being given protection amidst nationwide protests over the government's failure to tackle the worst economic crisis. "He (Mahinda Rajapaksa) was evacuated to the Trincomallee naval dockyard," Guneratne told reporters in an online briefing.