TUNIS — Tunisia’s president is deploying the army to protect petroleum and phosphate facilities amid growing demonstrations over unemployment and corruption.

Also Wednesday, Tunisian police fired tear gas on protesters after a vendor tried to set himself on fire.

The vendor was treated for burns as tensions rose in Tebourba, according to the TAP news agency.

While the incident appeared to be quickly contained, the self-immolation recalled a similar desperate act by a vendor that unleashed Tunisia’s 2010-2011 revolution and subsequent uprisings around the Arab world.

President Beji Caid Essebsi took the unusual step of deploying the army, announcing in Tunis that ‘‘the state must protect the people’s resources’’ after protests in impoverished inland provinces in recent weeks.

Sit-ins and other demonstrations have blocked roads and notably led to a halt in production at oil and phosphate facilities.

After extremist attacks and political violence in recent years, Tunisia is in a prolonged state of emergency.

The protesters are desperate for job opportunities and better living conditions in inland regions blighted by poverty in comparison with richer coastal cities.

Associated Press