<p>Heavily armed troops evacuated outgoing Sri Lankan prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa from his official residence in Colombo on Tuesday after thousands of protesters breached the main gate.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Protesters who forced their way into the capital's "Temple Trees" residence then attempted to storm the main two-storey building where Rajapaksa was holed up with his immediate family.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"After a pre-dawn operation, the former PM and his family were evacuated to safety by the army," a top security official told AFP. "At least 10 petrol bombs were thrown into the compound."</p>.<p class="bodytext"><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/india-keeps-its-tabs-on-crisis-stricken-sri-lanka-1107937.html" target="_blank">India keeps its tabs on crisis-stricken Sri Lanka</a></strong></p>.<p class="bodytext">Rajapaksa's evacuation to an undisclosed location followed a day of violent protests in which five people, including a lawmaker, were killed and nearly 200 wounded.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The security official said police kept up a barrage of tear gas and fired warning shots in the air to hold back mobs at all three entrances to the colonial-era building, a key symbol of state power.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dozens of homes of top Rajapaksa loyalists were torched elsewhere in the curfew-bound country, which has been under a state of emergency since Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The emergency order from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the outgoing premier's younger brother, gave sweeping powers to the military as protests demanding the duo's resignation escalated over the country's worst-ever economic crisis.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Protestors and Sri Lankan religious leaders blamed the former prime minister for instigating the family's supporters to attack unarmed protestors on Monday, sparking retaliatory attacks.</p>
<p>Heavily armed troops evacuated outgoing Sri Lankan prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa from his official residence in Colombo on Tuesday after thousands of protesters breached the main gate.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Protesters who forced their way into the capital's "Temple Trees" residence then attempted to storm the main two-storey building where Rajapaksa was holed up with his immediate family.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"After a pre-dawn operation, the former PM and his family were evacuated to safety by the army," a top security official told AFP. "At least 10 petrol bombs were thrown into the compound."</p>.<p class="bodytext"><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/india-keeps-its-tabs-on-crisis-stricken-sri-lanka-1107937.html" target="_blank">India keeps its tabs on crisis-stricken Sri Lanka</a></strong></p>.<p class="bodytext">Rajapaksa's evacuation to an undisclosed location followed a day of violent protests in which five people, including a lawmaker, were killed and nearly 200 wounded.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The security official said police kept up a barrage of tear gas and fired warning shots in the air to hold back mobs at all three entrances to the colonial-era building, a key symbol of state power.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dozens of homes of top Rajapaksa loyalists were torched elsewhere in the curfew-bound country, which has been under a state of emergency since Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The emergency order from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the outgoing premier's younger brother, gave sweeping powers to the military as protests demanding the duo's resignation escalated over the country's worst-ever economic crisis.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Protestors and Sri Lankan religious leaders blamed the former prime minister for instigating the family's supporters to attack unarmed protestors on Monday, sparking retaliatory attacks.</p>