Army gets emergency powers

COLOMBO, May 10 (Agencies): Sri Lanka gave emergency powers on Tuesday to its military and police to detain people without warrants, after a day of clashes that killed seven people and injured more than 200, in violence that prompted Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign.

As the Indian Ocean nation battles its worst economic crisis in history, thousands of protesters had defied curfew to attack government figures, setting ablaze homes, shops and businesses belonging to ruling party lawmakers and provincial politicians.

Fresh protests erupted in Sri Lanka's capital on Tuesday, defying a government curfew after five people died in the worst violence in weeks of demonstrations over a dire economic crisis.

Demonstrators showed no sign they would back down, even after scores were injured when government supporters were bussed into Colombo on Monday, and attacked protesters with sticks and clubs.

As outrage over the incident soared, prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned-but even that has failed to calm public anger, with his brother Gotabaya still president with widespread powers and command over the security forces.

Thousands of angry protesters stormed Mahinda's official residence overnight, and the former premier had to be rescued in a pre-dawn military operation on Tuesday, firing tear gas and warning shots.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

A mob assaulted a top Sri Lankan police officer and torched his vehicle near the prime minister's official residence in the capital Colombo on Tuesday, authorities said.

Senior Deputy Inspector-General Deshabandu Tennakoon, the highest-ranking officer in Colombo "required emergency treatment and has returned home," a senior police official told AFP.