Category Archives: NSA

Islamabad, Aug 8 (PTI) Pakistans top investigation body has constituted a four-member team to trace and nab those involved in an anti-Army social media campaign that the security establishment orchestrated a recent helicopter crash, in which six senior military officers were killed, to gain sympathy.

A top Pakistan Army general and five senior military officials were killed when their Mi-17 helicopter crashed due to bad weather while on a flood relief operation in troubled Balochistan province on August 1.

Some social media tweets after the crash suggested that the crash was orchestrated through conspiracy by the countrys security establishment to gain sympathy.

The Pakistan Army was shocked, first due to the crash which cost it the head of the countrys key XII Corps headquartered at Quetta along with five other officers and a soldier, and second the negative campaign on social media.

The six individuals on board included the Commander XII Corps Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) sprang into action after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday that belittling and ridiculing the sacrifices of martyrs was horrifying.

Hours after the premiers tweet, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb confirmed that the FIA will lead the efforts to blunt the campaign unleashed on social media.

She said that the FIAs additional director general of the cybercrime wing Mohammad Jaffar and director (cybercrime, north) Waqaruddin Saeed and two more officials would be the members of the team.

Though it is not exactly known who was mentoring the campaign, Pakistans ruling coalition blamed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its chief Imran Khan.

The government leaders also criticised Khan and Pakistan President Arif Alvi, who belongs to the PTI, for not attending the funeral of Lt-Gen Sarfaraz Ali and other military personnel.

But the PTI leadership rejected the criticism, saying President Alvi phoned the families of the military personnel to offer condolences and Khan, a former prime minister, visited the residence of Lt-Gen Ali and met his family.

Separately, the Balochistan Assembly in a joint condolence resolution paid tributes to the six army officers who were killed in the helicopter crash.

Whenever we need the help of the people, our brave army personnel and officers rush to provide help and comfort to the needy people, the resolution said and expressed deepest grief and pain over the tragic incident that deprived the nation of the senior army officers. PTI SH NSA AKJ NSA

This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

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Pakistan's top probe agency to trace those behind online campaign against Army over Balochistan copter crash - ThePrint

Its as true today as it was when I wrote this back in 2016 American friends, they tell you that the rest of the world hates you because they envy your freedoms.

You can keep your freedoms that include your Patriot Act, your NSA, TSA and all your other alphabet soup agencies that are forever checking up on you and your everyday activities.

They tell you we hate you because we envy your way of life. I can assure you, we dont need your system of food stamps, minimum wages, debt laden graduates, lack of health care for the uninsured, your need to own weapons for your protection and all the other goodies you seem to take in your stride but to us they sound so alien.

We dont need them and we certainly do not want them. We would much rather have our free education, free health care for all, to feel secure in the thought that when our children are playing in the street after dark they will be safe; we dont want the drive by shootings, the armed officers that give the impression of a police state, the government spying on our private communications.

After all your country has done to the world, the rest of us would be forgiven if we hated you, but that is far from the truth.

We do not hate you as a people; we hate what your successive governments, Republican or Democrat, represent.

We hate the terror and destruction they spread around the world.

They tell you they are spreading democracy which you believe and cheer, they tell you you are the leaders of the free world and you feel so proud, they tell you you are exceptional and you buy into it. If there is something we hate about Americans, it is that so many of you are so nave.

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OPINION: Keep Your Freedoms And Way Of Life, We'll Keep Our Children Safe And Have Free - GreekCityTimes.com

THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has directed residents to get certification from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and approval from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) before flying drones in the FCT.

The Command issued the directive on Friday while warning against indiscriminate and illegal use of drones in Nigerias capital city.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Command Josephine Adeh said in a statement that the warning followed apprehension among residents upon sighting drones within their locality.

Information at the disposal of the Command as well as public outcry on the sighting of drones hovering over personal and government-restricted air-spaces contrary to extant laws, thereby creating fear and apprehension in the minds of residents.

Consequent upon the above, the Commissioner of Police FCT Command CP Babaji Sunday has directed the immediate Enforcement of Drone usage Regulations, arrest of violators, and the confiscation of such drones, the statement said.

According to the statement, specific certification from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and approval from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) should be obtained before flying drones in the FCT.

The CP while calling for calm, noted that investigations carried out has shown that the small and lightweight drones sighted are of zero imminent security threat as they are flown by individuals for leisure or commercial purposes.

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However, to help the Police effectively police the air-spaces, it is important to in addition to the above notify the Police of the usage of the drone in every instance, especially for commercial purposes, the statement added.

Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org

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Police direct residents to obtain clearance from NCAA, NSA before flying drones in FCT | The ICIR - ICIR

On July 31, Osama bin Laden's successor as the global head of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, stepped out onto the balcony of his Taliban safe house in Kabul's tony Wazir Akbar Khan area to catch a breath of fresh air and a bit of sunshine.

About 40,000 feet above an American Predator B (aka Reaper MQ-9) drone loitering to get a glimpse of him, caught him in its camera. And after its operators in Nevada, USA confirmed it with facial identification technology, ordered it to fire its single Hellfire R9X missile.

The Hellfire is a small 100 lbs and five feet long air to ground missile (AGM), and races down a reflected laser beam with unerring accuracy. It costs about $150,000. The R9X which was developed at the express request of Barack Obama, who wanted to minimise collateral damage due to an explosive charge, is a kinetic weapon which unsheathes multiple blades from its fuselage as it approaches the target at almost 900 mph like a whirling swordsman. Al-Zawahari didn't stand a chance against a Hellfire racing down at over 925 mph.

The USA, and some other countries, have a bevy of space satellites orbiting at preselected trajectories to watch over areas of interest. These satellites not only listen to targets, but also track them and identify faces and vehicles by their plates.

Osama bin Laden never looked up while on his morning walk at his Abbottabad residence but he was recognised by his height but the length of his shadow at the time of the day and by his gait. Al-Zawahari was either careless or underestimated America's appetite for his head. He still had a $25 million reward, appetising enough for any informants.

The number of active mobile phones worldwide exceeded 15 billion, which means that many people have more than a couple. Of these 7.2 billion are smartphones connecting people with huge reservoirs of information and content. India has 1.28 billion and China has 1.9 billion phones.

The USA follows with 327 million, and a dysfunctional country like Pakistan has 125 million. Even in countries with little semblance of a government or a state, like Somalia and Afghanistan or Mali or Libya, there are functioning mobile phone networks.

As of June 30, 2021 there were 4.86 billion internet users world over. Of these 44.8% were in Asia, 21.5% in Europe and 11.4% in all of North America. India was one of the last countries operating a telegraph service and as of end 2021 even that is in the past. Literally, it's all up in the air now.

But since data exchanged on cellular and Internet networks fly through the ether, and not as pulses racing through copper wires, they are easier to net by electronic interception. But these nets catch them in huge numbers. This is where the supercomputers come in. The messages that are netted every moment are run through sieves of sophisticated and complex computer programs that can simultaneously decode, detect and unravel.

By further analysing the incoming and outgoing patterns of calls and data transfers for the sending and receiving terminals or phones, they can with a fair probability of accuracy tell the agency seeking information about what is going on, and who is up to what?

The problem is that since this information also goes through the mobile phone network and Internet Service Providers (ISP), and the data actually gets decoded from electronic blips into voice and digital data, the private players too can gain access to such information.

A few years ago we had the case of the infamous Amar Singh CD's which titillated so many with its graphic content, and lowbrow conversations featuring the likes of Anil Ambani, Jayaprada, Bipasha Basu and some others. Then we had the episode of the Radia tapes where we were privy to the machinations of the Tata's corporate lobbyist in the national capital fixing policy, positioning ministers and string pulling media stars.

But more usefully than this, a mobile phone, by nature of its technology, is also a personalized GPS indicator. It tells them where that phone is at any instant it is on. The Al Qaeda terrorist and US citizen Anwar el-Awlaki was blasted by a Hellfire missile fired from a CIA Predator drone flying over Yemen with the co-ordinates provided by Awlaki's mobile phone.

Since a mobile phone is usually with you it tells the network (and other interested parties) where you are or were, and even where you are headed. If you are on a certain street, since it reveals where exactly you are and the direction of your movement, it can tell you where the next pizza place is or where and what is on sale. This is also a breach of privacy, but often useful to you. But if you are up to no-good, then a switched on mobile phone is a certain giveaway.

That's what gave away Osama bin Laden in the end. A momentary indiscretion by a trusted courier and bodyguard and a name gleaned from a long ago water-boarding session was all it took. To know what happened next see "Zero Dark Thirty" by Katherine Bigelow (now on Netflix and YouTube).

The NSA's eavesdropping mission includes radio broadcasting, both from various organisations and individuals, the Internet, telephone calls, and other intercepted forms of communication. Its secure communications mission includes military, diplomatic, and all other sensitive, confidential or secret government communications.

The National Security Agency (NSA) is all hi-tech. NSA collects intelligence from four geostationary satellites. These satellites track and monitor millions of conversations and the NSA's banks of high speed supercomputers process all these messages for certain phrases and patterns of conversations to decide if the persons at either end were worthy of further interest.

Link this information with the data from the CIA's spinning satellites watching movements of groups, individuals and vehicles, and you have a broad picture of what the people are doing.

According to the Washington Post, "every day, collection systems at the National Security Agency intercept and store 1.7 billion emails, phone calls and other types of communications."

The NSA and CIA together comprise the greatest intelligence gathering effort in the world. The overall U.S. intelligence budget is now declared to be $62.8 billion.

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Hello! Big Brother is Listening and Watching - The Citizen

Prime Ministers Office, New Delhi, 22 February 2024

...Whats the problem? the prime minister rasps.

Sir, this looks like a formidable cyberattack. Even our secure network has been breached, the NSA says. We are unable to contact anyone.

The prime minister of Indias office has turned into an island.

In a few minutes it becomes clear that the PMO is not the only one to fall off the internet highway. The ministries of defence, home, finance, as well as the service headquarters of the armed forces have all gone offline. The Government of India has been thrown backwards by more than three decades. Even the phone lines are not working.

A sense of foreboding descends on the room. The prime minister walks back to his office, followed by the NSA. The principal secretary is tasked with physically summoning the members of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the chief of defence staff (CDS), and the three service chiefs for an immediate meeting.

Unlikely, replies the NSA. Beads of perspiration appear on his forehead.

China?

Thats most likely.

China had been issuing warnings to India since the previous year when the prime minister had visited Bum La in Arunachal Pradesh and addressed the troops in Tawang. China had termed this a grave provocation. Consequently, it increased military activity in its Western Theatre Command (WTC) close to the border with India. According to the intelligence reports that the NSA has been receiving over the last few months, the activity appeared to be more than the regular exercises that the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) regularly conducts.

Convoys of all kinds of trucks are frequently spotted moving stores, ammunition, and fuel on the multiple tar roads heading towards Lhasa (the headquarters of Tibet Military Command), and sometimes on the arterial roads linking up to the LAC1. Since 2020, the PLA has built robust and technologically advanced underground facilities (UGFs) to protect all aspects of its military forces, including command and control, logistics, ammunition, and missile systems.

Started around 2012, the UGF building programme in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) had been upgraded and expanded. The deeply buried UGFs were traditionally meant to protect military assets from the effects of penetrating conventional munitions and nuclear strikes.

According to intelligence reports, after the 2020 Ladakh face-off, the PLA deployed electronic and cyber warfare units in TAR. Dual-use airports were upgraded for combat jet and drone flights. Huge communication towers had been set up. Blast pens or hardened shelters for combat aircraft had been built. Numerous air defence and missile sites had been dug. But India had been ignoring these provocations.

Despite all the threats, the prime minister and the NSA were convinced that China would not enter all-out war with India and imperil its own economic growth. This view was also supported by the military establishment led by the CDS. Even in 2024, the Indian military held the view it had formulated back in 2009 that China would not want to wage a war with India because a stalemate on ground would be viewed as defeat.

And stalemate it would be, they believed, because the Indian military of 2024 was not the same as 1962. It was prepared to fight and was battle hardened by decades of fighting terrorism on the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan. The Indian Air Force, with some 250-300 combat aircraft from all bases located at much lower altitudes, had many advantages over the PLA Air Force (PLAAF). It would make sure that it sent back thousands of body bags of PLA soldiers, thereby destroying Chinas reputation as a world power.

But was the Chinese military of 2024 the same as the one in 1962? This was an uncomfortable question with an unsavoury answer. Since the prime minister was not in the habit of listening to unpleasant answers, nobody raised this question. Perhaps nobody knew that this was a question that needed to be asked.

Despite ongoing studies on China, the Indian military, even in 2024, was oblivious of the war China had been preparing for. Traditionally, the Indian military believed that China was at least a decade ahead of Indian capabilities. Sanguine in this assessment, it was clueless about the rapid transformation that had been taking place in the neighbourhood.

But if China does not intend to go to war with India, why would it mount such a formidable cyberattack on the seat of the government?

Looking through his notes based on a recent intelligence report, the NSA runs the prime minister through what he knows about the PLAs presence in TAR. The combat support forces (Rocket Force, Strategic Support Force, and Joint Logistics Support Force) in the WTC have been conducting training with combat units to deploy and manoeuvre with them. The reported PLA convoys into TAR include large numbers of unmanned vehicles combat as well as reconnaissance. One report mentions sighting thousands of humanoid robots in military buses and trains to Lhasa.

Humanoid robots?

They are likely to be used for combat support like maintenance, readying of ammunition, supplies, fuel and so on, the NSA says in a slightly dismissive tone.

Difficult to say. But its unlikely that a phishing attack would disrupt our networks. This seems to be something else.

By this time, the CCS has assembled in the conference room. Breaking protocol, the chief of air staff (CAS) blurts out, This is not an ordinary cyberattack. The malware that has attacked us is extremely sophisticated. It has breached all our firewalls. Our entire communication network has collapsed. We have been rendered blind and deaf.

A cold frisson runs through the conference room. The army and the navy chiefs have similar reports to share. The navy chief is particularly worried. The navy has lost contact with the INS Vikrant carrier battle group that includes two destroyers, four frigates, three submarines, fifteen fighters, eight helicopters, two long-range maritime patrol aircraft, and a number of smaller vessels.

Seeing the prime ministers quizzical look, the NSA explains stoically, Sir, if we have lost contact with them, it means they have also lost contact with ground control. This can lead to accidents.

The CAS interrupts. Its a very serious situation. We have deployed six aircraft for this exercise. All communications with them have snapped.

Glancing at the NSA, he adds, In Ladakh, the PLA has also deployed a large number of unmanned and autonomous systems, including combat systems. If they get up to some mischief using machines, we wont get to know. Of course, our troops are trained and prepared for all eventualities. But communication with headquarters is critical.

Despite the apparent calm in the room, the panic was palpable. The COASs remark was foreboding, but it also held a clue to the motive for the cyberattack. The principal secretary was told to summon the director of National Critical Information Infrastructures Protection Centre (NCIIPC) that works under the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), the head of the Defence Cyber Agency under the Integrated Defence Headquarters, and the National Cyber Security Coordinator who works directly under the PMO.

The reports are worse than expected.

Sir, it doesnt look like a mere cyberattack. The internet in peninsular India has stopped working. Most DRDO laboratories, ISRO, and the DPSUs have no internet. We dont know yet how much of the infrastructure has been affected, the NSA says, running his hand over his forehead.

Its a major cyberattack, the prime minister says.

After a moments silence, the NSA adds, It looks like some of our submarine cables that connect us to the global internet have been tampered with. Maybe they have been cut.

But thats an act of war, the prime minister says to the now silent room.

The conference room turns into an impromptu war room.

I need updates every half hour, the prime minister declares and storms out.

Excerpted with permission from The Last War: How AI Will Shape Indias Final Showdown with China, Pravin Sawhney, Aleph Book Company.

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Defence analyst Pravin Sawhneys new book begins with an imagined cyberattack on India by China - Scroll.in

Former Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger explained to the January 6 committee his decision to resign after Trump put out a tweet attacking VP Pence, even as a violent mob were attempting to breach the Capitol Building.

POTTINGER: I began to see for the first time, those images on TV of the chaos that was unfolding at the Capital. One of my aides handed me a sheet of paper that contain the tweet that you just read. I read it and was quite disturbed by it. I was disturbed and worried to see that the President was attacking Vice President Pence for doing his Constitutional duty.

So, the Tweet looked to me like the opposite of what what we really needed at that moment which was a de-escalation and that's why I had said earlier that it looked like fuel being poured on the fire.

So, that was the moment that I decided that I was going to resign that, that would be my last day at the White House. I simply didn't want to be associated with with the events that were unfolding on the capitol.

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Former Trump Deputy NSA Matthew Pottinger explains his decision to resign after Trump tweeted attacking VP Pence. - Yahoo News

New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government has invoked the stringent National Security Act (1980) against Welfare Party leader and activist Javed Mohammad, paving the way for his detention for up to a year without charge or trial.

Mohammad was arrested in the early hours of June 11, hours after Prayagraj witnessed some incidents of stone pelting in the Khuldabad locality after the Friday prayers of June 10 in protest against BJP leader Nupur Sharmas controversial remarks about Prophet Mohammad.

Police claimed Mohammad was the ring leader of the violence a charge he and his lawyers deny and his residence was demolished by the authorities on June 12.

Speaking to The Wire on Saturday, advocate K.K. Roy who represents Mohammad said, We have been told that NSA has been involved against Mohammad. However, we have not yet received the papers. More importantly, what we feel is that the charges are aimed at selectively targeting Mohammad since the police has failed to surface any substantial evidence that he was involved in the violence or that he incited any crowds.

Roy stated that a disturbance or the intent to disturb law and order are critical factors to the invoking of NSA, which empowers the authorities to keep a person in detention for a maximum period of 12 months.It is clear that until the 9th of June, Mohammad was in fact active in ensuring peacekeeping amid tensions. There is no evidence to show that he instigated any violence. Moreover, the law and order situation was maintained in Prayagraj no curfew was even imposed so essentially there is no basis for [the NSAs] invocation.

Protests erupted in several Indian cities on June 10, against the remarks made by former BJP leader Nupur Sharma.

Mohammad was shifted from Naini Jail in Prayagraj to Deoria Jail over security concerns. Previously, the police had also claimed they found provocative material and weapons at Javeds home charges his family denies.

In a statement, the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) condemned the invoking of NSA against Javed Mohammad, stating that the the states police is hiding its own inability to collect evidence against him by using the stringent law.

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UP Government Invokes NSA against Javed Mohammad for Prayagraj Protest - The Wire

FROM permanent pasture to herbal leys, the options now available for the countrys sheep farmers when it comes to managing their grassland are numerous and can be confusing.

To support sheep farmers through these difficult decisions the NSA is launching its new Grassland Trail at this months NSA Sheep Event.

As input prices increase, the new feature at the event, taking place on Wednesday, July 27, at the Three Counties Showground, Worcestershire, will provide plentiful advice so farmers are able to explore ways they can optimise their grasslands for efficient and profitable sheep production.

The trail will offer visitors the chance to speak to grassland specialists, join practical workshops delivered by nutrition and grass seed companies or listen to leading industry experts debate the future role of grasslands in carbon sequestration. Topics covered will include soil health, multi-species swards, parasite control and water management.

NSA chief executive officer Phil Stocker said: All at NSA are very excited to be able to welcome visitors to this new feature at NSA Sheep Event. Its launch could not come at a more important time as farmers seek methods to make the most from their grasslands under current pressures from rising input costs but also at a time when the importance of grasslands in the climate change debate must be highlighted both to farmers and the wider public.

The NSA Grassland Trail has been created as part of NSAs involvement in the EU-funded E-Organic Erasmus project and aims to offer advice to farmers on how to integrate sustainable farming practices into their future management systems, taking proactive steps to tackle current and future challenges.

A number of workshops will also be on offer providing farmers with some hands on advice to take home. A series of competitions is run throughout the day, providing entertainment and encouraging the next generation of sheep farmers, while a sheepdog sale is always a big draw for visitors.

For more information, visit http://www.sheepevent.org.uk.

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Grassland options will be explored at NSA Sheep Event | Darlington and Stockton Times - Darlington and Stockton Times

By Yoshita SinghUnited Nations, Jul 23 (PTI) India along with six others has voted against a draft resolution presented by the US that recommended six human rights groups, which have been blocked for years in the United Nations' NGO Committee, be granted special consultative status at the UN Economic and Social Council.At the meeting of the 54-member Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations recommended 203 groups for special consultative status.However, six other non-governmental organisations, including the foundation that runs Wikipedia, were added to the list in a draft proposed by the United States, which, in turn, led to a call for a recorded vote, according to the UN.A report on the UN website said that the draft resolution on the list of non-governmental organisations receiving consultative status with the Council, presented by the United States delegate, caused a brief stir.The draft resolution, sponsored by a total of 36 countries, recommended six additional non-governmental organisations to the list proposed by the Committee. It was adopted by 23 votes in favour with China, India, Kazakhstan, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Russia and Zimbabwe voting against and 18 abstentions. The Council decided to grant special consultative status to Diakonia; Inimoiguste Instituut; National Human Rights Civic Association Belarusian Helsinki Committee; Non Ce Pace Senza Giustizia; Syrian American Medical Society Foundation; and Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.The United States delegate pointed out that those organisations had been waiting for years to obtain non-governmental status and repeatedly answered questions from members of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations.Supporters of the amended resolution defended the right of the six organisations to make their voices heard at the United Nations. Others pointed to those organisations having political or, as stated by Israels delegate, even terrorist affiliations, the report said.Several member states members criticised the approach of submitting the request directly to the Council on the grounds that it was a manoeuvre to circumvent the Committee.The report added that the representative of India, in explanation of the position after the vote, highlighted the key role of the Committee, which has a clear mandate. The procedure is transparent, he said, cautioning against any deviation from it.Human Rights Watch welcomed the ECOSOC approval for UN accreditation for the six human rights groups "that have been blocked for years in the UNs NGO Committee.Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that the decision to grant UN accreditation to six human rights groups is a step in the right direction.But its only a fraction of the hundreds of organisations whose applications have been unfairly blocked for years by Russia, China, and other abusive governments. Rights-respecting countries should push for an urgent overhaul of the UNs accreditation process for non-governmental organizations and put a stop to efforts to silence human rights activists at the UN. PTI YAS NSA AKJ NSANSANSA

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India six others vote against resolution to grant UN accreditation to 6 rights groups - The Week

Colombo, Jul 23 (PTI) Sri Lankas Cabinet has met for the first time under newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe and discussed ways to normalise the situation in the economic-crisis hit country within a week by regularising functions of the government institutions such as the Prime Ministers Office and the Presidential Secretariat, according to a media report on Saturday.

After the appointment of the new Cabinet on Friday, the President called for the meeting, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

They discussed that the country should be normalised within one week by regularising functions of the government institutions such as the Prime Ministers Office, the Presidential Secretariat, and schools, the newspaper said quoting sources.

The Cabinet was informed that fuel sufficient for one month had been secured and therefore distribution under a quota system should be expedited.

The President said that he empowered the security forces to uphold the Constitution and to create an environment for people to live without fear.

The Cabinet also discussed the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) which are underway to secure financial assistance.

Meanwhile, the Opposition requested Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to summon the Parliament on July 25 to discuss attacks on peaceful protests at Galle Face on Friday by security forces and the current situation of the country.

Sri Lankan troops and police armed with assault rifles and batons on Friday forcibly removed anti-government protesters camped outside the presidential office here in a pre-dawn raid.

Police have described the pre-dawn raid on the main camp of the anti-government protesters as a special operation to take [back] control of the presidential secretariat.

The protesters had vacated the President and Prime Ministers residences and the Prime Ministers office after capturing them on July 9, but they were still occupying some rooms of the Presidents secretariat.

They also refused to accept Wickremesinghe as the new president, holding him partly responsible for the countrys unprecedented economic and political crisis.

The main protest group which blocked entry to the Presidents Office since April 9, said they would continue their struggle till Wickremesinghe resigned.

The new Sri Lankan government has been criticised for using force to remove the anti-government protesters.

Sri Lanka has seen months of mass unrest over an economic crisis and many blame the former government led by ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family for mishandling the island nations economy.

Protesters set Wickremesinghes personal residence on fire and occupied his office during protests last week.

Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials. Sri Lankas total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion. PTI NSA AKJ NSA NSA

This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

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Sri Lanka Cabinet discusses ways to normalise situation within one week - ThePrint