Indefinite curfew imposed across Colombo ahead of rally today

An indefinite curfew was imposed across Sri Lanka's capital yesterday and the military has been placed on alert ahead of a rally today demanding the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Police chief Chandana Wickramaratne said Colombo and its suburbs are under curfew and urged residents to remain indoors.

The order came as thousands of anti-government protesters poured into the capital ahead of today's rally to pressure Rajapaksa to quit over the country's worsening economic



crisis.

The island nation is suffering an unprecedented shortage of essentials, and its 22 million people have endured high inflation and prolonged blackouts since the start of the year.

Demonstrators have for months are camping outside Rajapaksa's Colombo office to demand his resignation for economic debacle.

The United Nations urged both the Sri Lankan authorities and the protesters to ensure today's demonstrations went off peacefully.