Sri Lankan President deploys army at fuel stations amid shortage as country battles worst economic crisis

Sri Lanka has ordered its military to post soldiers at hundreds of petrol stations to help distribute fuel after a sudden rise in prices of key commodities and the accompanying shortages forced tens of thousands of people to queue for hours.

Soldiers were deployed after angry crowds blocked a main artery in Colombo and held up traffic for hours because they were unable to buy kerosene oil on Monday, government spokesman Ramesh Pathirana said.

The Indian Ocean island nation is battling a foreign exchange crisis that forced the devaluation of its currency and hit payments for essential imports such as food, medicine and fuel, prompting the government to approach the International Monetary Fund.

The decision to position troops near petrol pumps and kerosene supply points came after three elderly people dropped dead during their wait in long queues, officials said on Tuesday.

“At least two army personnel will be deployed at every fuel pump,” military spokesman Nilantha Premaratne told Reuters news agency, adding that the soldiers would help organise fuel distribution, but would not be involved in crowd control.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office announced a summit of all political parties on Wednesday to discuss the economic crisis, but opposition groups said they planned to boycott the meeting.

Sri Lanka's financial crisis stems from a critical shortfall of foreign currency, leaving traders unable to finance imports.

The Covid-19 pandemic throttled the island's tourism sector -- a key foreign exchange earner -- and remittances from Sri Lankans working overseas have also declined sharply.

Shortages of foreign exchange have wrought havoc on almost every aspect of daily life, with authorities last week postponing term tests for millions of students because of a lack of paper and ink.