200805051180 | Two shot dead in Somali currency riot

Two shot dead in Somali currency riot

Somali troops killed at least two people in the capital, Mogadishu, when they opened fire to halt riots over rising costs and counterfeit money. Thousands of people rioted, burning tyres and throwing stones after traders refused to accept local notes and demanded US dollars instead.

The recent printing of local shilling notes on illegal presses has led to spiralling inflation, reporters say.
This and the increasing insecurity have seen food prices double.

Somalia has been without a central government for more than 17 years and for the past 17 months, the Ethiopian-back interim government has been struggling to exert its control over the country.
Hundreds of shops and restaurants on the main roads closed as the demonstrators threw stones at the buildings, the BBC's Mohammad Olad Hassan in Mogadishu reports.

The protesters shouted slogans about the traders such as "down with those refusing the old money and down with the dollar-receivers".
The United Nations reports that soaring food prices have already forced more than a third of all Somalis to rely on outside assistance to feed their families.