President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has issued a Gazette Extraordinary calling upon the armed forces to maintain public order across the country with effect from today (22).The President issued the gazette notification yesterday (21) by virtue of the powers vested in him by Section 12 of the Public Security Ordinance (Chapter 40).

Accordingly, the Army, Navy and the Air Force have been called out for the maintenance of public order in the areas specified below:
-Administrative Districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Jaffna, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Batticaloa, Ampara, Trincomalee, Puttalam and the territorial water adjacent to such Districts
-Administrative Districts of Kandy, Matale, Nuwara Eliya, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Badulla, Monaragala, Ratnapura, Kegalle