COLOMBO
\nSri Lanka\u2019s military opened fire to contain rioting at a fuel station, officials said on Sunday as unprecedented queues for petrol and diesel were seen across the bankrupt country.
\nTroops fired in Visuvamadu, 365 kilometres north of Colombo, on Saturday night as their guard point was pelted with stones, army spokesman Nilantha Premaratne said.
\n\u201cA group of 20 to 30 people pelted stones and damaged an army truck,\u201d Premaratne told AFP.
\nPolice said four civilians and three soldiers were wounded when the army opened fire for the first time to quell unrest linked to the worsening economic crisis.
\nAs the pump ran out of petrol, motorists began to protest and the situation escalated into a clash with troops, police said.
\nSri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence, with the country unable to find dollars to import essentials, including food, fuel and medicines.
\nThe nation\u2019s 22 million population has been enduring acute shortages and long queues for scarce supplies while President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has for months resisted calls to step down over mismanagement.
\nSri Lanka has deployed armed police and troops to guard fuel stations.
\nA motorist was shot dead by police in April at the central town of Rambukkana when a clash erupted over the distribution of rationed petrol and diesel.
\nPolice said clashes involving motorists erupted at three locations over the weekend. At least six constables were wounded in one clash while seven motorists were arrested.
\nThe government declared a two-week shutdown of state institutions and schools in a bid to reduce commuting and conserve depleting fuel stocks in the impoverished nation.
\nThe country is also facing record high inflation and lengthy power blackouts, all of which have contributed to months of protests.
\nFour out of five people in Sri Lanka have started skipping meals as they cannot afford to eat, the UN has said, warning of a looming \u201cdire humanitarian crisis\u201d with millions in need of aid.
\nThe World Food Programme (WFP) began distributing food vouchers to about 2,000 pregnant women in Colombo\u2019s \u201cunderserved\u201d areas as part of \u201clife-saving assistance\u201d on Thursday.
\nThe WFP is trying to raise $60 million for a food relief effort between June and December.
\nSri Lanka defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt in April, and is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
COLOMBO Sri Lanka\u2019s military opened fire to contain rioting at a fuel station, officials said on Sunday as unprecedented queues for petrol and diesel were seen across the bankrupt country. Troops fired in Visuvamadu, 365 kilometres north of Colombo, on Saturday night as their guard point was pelted with stones, army spokesman Nilantha Premaratne said. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8697,793,2994],"class_list":{"0":"post-266959","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-fuel-riots","9":"tag-sri-lanka","10":"tag-troops"},"yoast_head":"\n