Amarakeerthi Athikorala, a member of the government-aligned Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), is reportedly dead amidst the carnage unfolding in Colombo as supporters of the Rajapaksa regime clash with anti-government demonstrators.

“The MP fled the scene and took refuge at a nearby building,” a police official told AFP by telephone. “Thousands surrounded the building and he then took his own life with his revolver.”

Responding to mob violence against peaceful demonstrators in Colombo, western diplomats have issued stern condemnations and stressed the need to “hold the perpetrators of violence to account”.

The statement comes as military troops have taken to the streets and have used tear gas and water cannons.

US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung tweeted:

Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has resigned as violence erupted in the capital this morning. 

Mob attacks have broken out in Colombo as anti-government protestors were attacked and security forces fired water cannons, with reports of further violence and hundreds injured across the South of the island.

Armed troops have been deployed in Sri Lanka's capital with reports that pro-government supporters have also been attacked, as assaults were reported by both sides across the South. Protests are still continuing with the homes of several politicians set ablaze.

As many as 100 people are reported to have been injured so far. At least 3 deaths have been reported.

Sri Lankan security forces have stepped up their presence around the Mullivaikkal memorial site today in the lead up to May 18, also known as 'Tamil Genocide Day'. 

Investigators and army personnel were seen at the site where tens of thousands of Tamils were trapped and massacred by Sri Lanka's states forces in the final days of the armed conflict. 

Construction of illegal Buddhist structures continues in the northeast homeland with the assistance of the military. Thissa Raja Vihara, a Buddhist temple, is being built in Thaiyiddi Jaffna - what is privately owned land that is being occupied by the Sri Lankan army. 

During a coordinating committee meeting, the Vali-North Pradeshiya Sabha (the local elected authority) opposed the construction of the Buddhist structure and consequently did not give permission to continue with the Sinhalization-project. 

Sri Lanka’s tea exports have dropped to a 23 year low as the country is in the midst of its worst economic crisis in living memory. 

Tea, Sri Lanka’s biggest export, brought an estimated $1.3 billion annually before the island was hit with its current economic crisis. 

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I have been informed by a very reliable source that the Government is using chemical gas cannisters which were bought down during the LTTE civil war.

The reason for this is because the Government does not have money to import standard issue cannisters.

— Rehan Jayawickreme (@RehanJayawick) May 7, 2022

Speaking in parliament this week, the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) leader, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam emphasised that Sri Lanka's economic and political crises will not be solved without an election, demilitarisation and a federal state structure. 

On this day 13  years ago, Stephen Sunthararaj, an activist who had exposed the trafficking of Tamil children into international prostitution rings, was abducted and forcibly disappeared in Colombo by armed men in military uniforms.

As part of his work he had told the then United States Ambassador in Colombo about prostitution rings run by government aligned paramilitaries in Jaffna. The paramilitaries were trafficking children into sex rings in India and Malaysia with the help of immigration officials.