The Sri Lankan army has dismissed claims that it shot directly at protesters who tried to enter President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s official residence in central Colombo’s high-security Fort area during the weekend. Thousands of irate anti-government protesters on Saturday stormed into President Rajapaksa’s official residence after breaking the barricades, as they demanded his resignation over the island nation’s worst economic crisis in recent memory.

Tear gas and water cannons were used while shots were also fired by the military to try and disperse the crowd. Later, video footage of the confrontation went viral on social media showing security forces shooting moments before protesters entered the President’s House.

In a media statement, the army on Sunday said that its attention has been drawn to a few video clips going viral claiming that the army troops opened fire at protesters in order to cause intentional harm when they were trying to forcibly enter the President’s House compound on Saturday afternoon, the Colombo Gazette reported. The army categorically denied having opened fire towards the protesters but said it fired a few rounds in the air and towards the sidewalls of the main gate entrance to the President’s House compound as a deterrent, aimed at preventing the entry of the protesters into the compound, it added.

The army said that firing into the air and sidewalls do not, therefore, necessarily mean that army personnel on duty were intent on causing deliberate harm to the protesters, it reported. Rajapaksa, the 73-year-old politician, is the first person with an army background to be elected as Sri Lanka’s President in 2019. On Sunday, army chief General Shavendra Silva said that an opportunity to resolve the current political crisis in a peaceful manner is now available and sought the people’s support to maintain peace in the island nation.