<p>Sri Lankan authorities issued shoot-on-sight orders on Tuesday to quell further unrest a day after the island was rocked by deadly violence and rioting.</p>.<p>With thousands of security forces enforcing a curfew, the defence ministry said troops "have been ordered to shoot on sight anyone looting public property or causing harm to life".</p>.<p>On Monday, government supporters attacked with sticks and clubs demonstrators in Colombo protesting peacefully for weeks over a dire economic crisis and demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.</p>.<p>Mobs then retaliated across the country late into the night, torching dozens of homes of ruling-party politicians and trying to storm the prime minister's official residence in the capital.</p>.<p>Police said Tuesday that in total eight people died.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/india-keeps-its-tabs-on-crisis-stricken-sri-lanka-1107937.html"><strong>Also read: India keeps its tabs on crisis-stricken Sri Lanka</strong></a></p>.<p>Protests continued on Tuesday despite the curfew.</p>.<p>A crowd attacked and set fire to a vehicle carrying Colombo's most senior policeman.</p>.<p>Officers fired warning shots and sent in reinforcements to rescue Senior Deputy Inspector-General Deshabandu Tennakoon, who was rushed to hospital but later released after treatment.</p>.<p>In another sign of rapidly deteriorating security, vigilante groups blocked the main road to Colombo airport to check for any Rajapaksa loyalists trying to leave the island, witnesses said.</p>.<p>As well as those killed, more than 225 people were injured on Monday, which also saw the resignation of prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.</p>.<p>His departure however failed to quell public anger, with his brother still president and wielding widespread powers and command over the security forces.</p>.<p>Mahinda had to be rescued in a pre-dawn military operation after thousands of angry protesters stormed his official residence overnight and lobbed petrol bombs.</p>.<p>Protester Chamal Polwattage said he expected demonstrations to swell again and vowed they would not leave "until the president goes".</p>.<p>"People are angry about the attacks launched against us yesterday... We have a lot of volunteers bringing food and water for us," the 25-year-old told AFP.</p>.<p>The Rajapaksa clan's hold on power has been shaken by months of blackouts and shortages of essential goods in Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.</p>.<p>The pandemic torpedoed vital tourism and forced the government to halt most imports to save foreign currency needed to pay its debts, on which it has now defaulted.</p>.<p>But after weeks of peaceful demonstrations, Monday's attacks on protesters by government supporters represented a turning point.</p>.<p>In the ensuing violence, police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds and declared a curfew across the entire South Asian nation until Wednesday.</p>.<p>Angry crowds set alight the homes of at least 41 pro-Rajapaksa politicians.</p>.<p>Several Rajapaksa homes were torched, while a family museum in their ancestral village was trashed.</p>.<p>Outside Colombo, ruling-party lawmaker Amarakeerthi Athukorala shot two people -- killing one of them -- when surrounded by a crowd of protesters, police said.</p>.<p>The MP later took his own life, officers said, but the ruling party said he had been murdered. The lawmaker's bodyguard was also killed.</p>.<p>Another ruling-party politician who was not named shot dead two protesters and wounded five others in the south, police added.</p>.<p>UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said Tuesday she was "deeply troubled" by the violence committed both by supporters of the government and the subsequent "mob violence" against ruling party members.</p>.<p>Bachelet in a statement called for an investigation and urged the government to "engage in meaningful dialogue with all parts of society".</p>.<p>Mahinda Rajapaksa said his resignation was intended to pave the way for a unity government, but it was unclear if the opposition would join any administration led by his brother.</p>.<p>The president has the power to appoint and fire ministers as well as judges, and enjoys immunity from prosecution.</p>.<p>Political sources said attempts were under way to arrange an online meeting between the president and all political parties.</p>.<p>"Unless President Rajapaksa steps down, no one -- whether the masses in the streets or key political stakeholders -- will be appeased," analyst Michael Kugelman from the Wilson Center told AFP.</p>
<p>Sri Lankan authorities issued shoot-on-sight orders on Tuesday to quell further unrest a day after the island was rocked by deadly violence and rioting.</p>.<p>With thousands of security forces enforcing a curfew, the defence ministry said troops "have been ordered to shoot on sight anyone looting public property or causing harm to life".</p>.<p>On Monday, government supporters attacked with sticks and clubs demonstrators in Colombo protesting peacefully for weeks over a dire economic crisis and demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.</p>.<p>Mobs then retaliated across the country late into the night, torching dozens of homes of ruling-party politicians and trying to storm the prime minister's official residence in the capital.</p>.<p>Police said Tuesday that in total eight people died.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/india-keeps-its-tabs-on-crisis-stricken-sri-lanka-1107937.html"><strong>Also read: India keeps its tabs on crisis-stricken Sri Lanka</strong></a></p>.<p>Protests continued on Tuesday despite the curfew.</p>.<p>A crowd attacked and set fire to a vehicle carrying Colombo's most senior policeman.</p>.<p>Officers fired warning shots and sent in reinforcements to rescue Senior Deputy Inspector-General Deshabandu Tennakoon, who was rushed to hospital but later released after treatment.</p>.<p>In another sign of rapidly deteriorating security, vigilante groups blocked the main road to Colombo airport to check for any Rajapaksa loyalists trying to leave the island, witnesses said.</p>.<p>As well as those killed, more than 225 people were injured on Monday, which also saw the resignation of prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.</p>.<p>His departure however failed to quell public anger, with his brother still president and wielding widespread powers and command over the security forces.</p>.<p>Mahinda had to be rescued in a pre-dawn military operation after thousands of angry protesters stormed his official residence overnight and lobbed petrol bombs.</p>.<p>Protester Chamal Polwattage said he expected demonstrations to swell again and vowed they would not leave "until the president goes".</p>.<p>"People are angry about the attacks launched against us yesterday... We have a lot of volunteers bringing food and water for us," the 25-year-old told AFP.</p>.<p>The Rajapaksa clan's hold on power has been shaken by months of blackouts and shortages of essential goods in Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.</p>.<p>The pandemic torpedoed vital tourism and forced the government to halt most imports to save foreign currency needed to pay its debts, on which it has now defaulted.</p>.<p>But after weeks of peaceful demonstrations, Monday's attacks on protesters by government supporters represented a turning point.</p>.<p>In the ensuing violence, police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds and declared a curfew across the entire South Asian nation until Wednesday.</p>.<p>Angry crowds set alight the homes of at least 41 pro-Rajapaksa politicians.</p>.<p>Several Rajapaksa homes were torched, while a family museum in their ancestral village was trashed.</p>.<p>Outside Colombo, ruling-party lawmaker Amarakeerthi Athukorala shot two people -- killing one of them -- when surrounded by a crowd of protesters, police said.</p>.<p>The MP later took his own life, officers said, but the ruling party said he had been murdered. The lawmaker's bodyguard was also killed.</p>.<p>Another ruling-party politician who was not named shot dead two protesters and wounded five others in the south, police added.</p>.<p>UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said Tuesday she was "deeply troubled" by the violence committed both by supporters of the government and the subsequent "mob violence" against ruling party members.</p>.<p>Bachelet in a statement called for an investigation and urged the government to "engage in meaningful dialogue with all parts of society".</p>.<p>Mahinda Rajapaksa said his resignation was intended to pave the way for a unity government, but it was unclear if the opposition would join any administration led by his brother.</p>.<p>The president has the power to appoint and fire ministers as well as judges, and enjoys immunity from prosecution.</p>.<p>Political sources said attempts were under way to arrange an online meeting between the president and all political parties.</p>.<p>"Unless President Rajapaksa steps down, no one -- whether the masses in the streets or key political stakeholders -- will be appeased," analyst Michael Kugelman from the Wilson Center told AFP.</p>