Sri Lanka Lifts Curfew As Protesters Attack President's Home

Sri Lanka has lifted a curfew on Friday after a protest in which dozens of people were arrested and several police officers hurt.

Reuters reports that hundreds of protesters gathered near the country's president's residence in a Colombo suburb late Thursday before police dispersed them with tear gas and water cannons.

A police spokesperson, Senior Superintendent Nihal Thalduwa, told Reuters; "We have arrested 54 people over the unrest last night.

"Several vehicles belonging to the army and police were burnt by the protesters, including two buses, one police jeep and several motorcycles."

Sri Lanka's capital was under heavy security on Friday after hundreds of protesters tried to storm the president's home in a night of violence.

The unrest saw hundreds of people, rallied by unidentified social media activists, march on President Gotabaya's home demanding his resignation.

The protesters also set two military buses and a police jeep ablaze, threw bricks to attack officers and barricaded a main road into Colombo with burning tires.

The country is seeing severe shortages of essentials, sharp price rises and crippling power cuts in its most painful downturn since independence in 1948.