Army yesterday issued a tougher warning to unruly protestors saying that its soldiers have been empowered to use force to protect lives and State property from any harm.

In a statement Army said members of the armed forces and the Police in terms of provisions, vested in them by the Constitution of Sri Lanka have been empowered to enforce law and order of the country and maintain the same in order to protect her people, public property and the country at large at the expense of their own lives.

This has been practised since the country became an independent State and a free nation, through which the sovereignty of the republic, freedom of expression and free movement of the public as enshrined in the Constitution are upheld and exercised as it has been distinctly manifested in the most recent months during the series of public protests that began in May this year.