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Reader D. sends us:

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PHOTOS – Sri Lanka: Rioters Burn Down Prime Minister’s House, 150+ Hospitalized, Lawmaker Killed
by Frances Martel

Local media outlets reported on Monday night local time that over 150 people had been hospitalized and several found dead, including a member of Parliament, in Sri Lanka following a violent mob attack on a protester encampment in the capital, Colombo.

Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror has published multiple shocking videos of the homes of ministers, members of parliament, former government officials, and the most powerful person in the country, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, completely engulfed in flames. Rajapaksa announced his resignation before his house was set on first on Monday.

Sri Lanka has been experiencing months of protests – most of them peaceful prior to Monday – in response to the worst economic crisis in its history. The country, a democratic socialist republic, is facing all-consuming shortages of gasoline, good, medicine, and nearly every basic good. Government policies under Rajapaksa, who was president from 2005 to 2015, and his brother, current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, resulted in a major debt default that handed over its key Hambantota port to China and over-reliance on importing food and that caused major shortages triggered in part by the war between Russia and Ukraine. Gotabaya Rajapaksa exacerbated shortages by banning chemical fertilizers for farmers, limiting the domestic food supply.

The Rajapaksa family is the country’s most powerful, seizing dozens of government posts after Mahinda helped end the 26-year-old civil war during his tenure as president. At their peak, the Rajapaksas controlled about 40 public offices.

Continues:

https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2022/05/09/photos-sri-lanka-rioters-burn-down-prime-ministers-house-150-hospitalized-lawmaker-killed/

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