Explainer: How bad is the crisis in Lebanon?

FILE PHOTO: A man shields from the sun with an umbrella as he waits to get fuel from a gas station in Jal el-Dib, Lebanon, August 20, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's financial meltdown has swiftly worsened in the last month, with much of the country crippled by fuel shortages that have ignited country-wide security incidents.

Exacerbated by political deadlock, Lebanon's rapid deterioration has prompted Western concern https://www.reuters.com/world/lebanon-free-fall-must-not-become-horror-story-us-senator-warns-2021-09-01. Some senior Lebanese officials have sounded the alarm https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/lebanese-security-chief-warns-crisis-could-be-prolonged-2021-08-27 about a country that has spent 30 years slowly recovering from a 1975-90 civil war.