Syrian regime forces opened fire on anti-government protesters in the southern Syrian city of Suweida on Sunday.
The city of Suweida has escaped much of the horror of Syria’s ongoing civil war [AFP via Getty/file photo]
The New Arab Staff
04 December, 2022
Syrian regime forces opened fire on anti-government protests on Sunday in southwest Syria, according to reports.
Authorities targeted dozens of demonstrators who stormed the governorate building in the city of Suweida and chanted slogans including "the people want the fall of the regime", Syrian activists and journalists said.
The two killed in the violence were a police officer and a protester, the Associated Press reported, while seven others were injured.
As a Druze-majority city, Suweida has mostly been able to avoid the horrors of Syria’s ongoing civil war, which began in 2011 and has seen over 500,000 people die - largely at the hands of President Bashar al-Assad's forces and ally Russia.
However, it has seen periodic unrest, including anti-corruption protests, in recent years.
In Sunday's protests, the flag of the regime was lowered, pictures of Assad smashed, and a military vehicle seized.
Protesters also set tires on fire and blocked the Damascus–Suweida highway, local journalist Fared Al-Mahlool reported local sources as saying.
The Syrian Interior Minister in a statement said that the people who raided the building were armed, and destroyed furniture, smashed windows, and looted files.
A police officer was killed after protesters attacked a police station, the statement said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad lost huge swathes of Syria following an armed uprising after his government's brutal repression of peaceful protesters in 2011. However, following the Russian intervention in 2015, the regime regained control over much of the country.
According to UN figures, the war has caused the greatest refugee crisis in the world, with at least 5.5 million people fleeing the country and more than 6 million more displaced inside Syria.
Several people were injured amid heavy gunfire during protests over worsening economic conditions, witnesses said.
Dec. 4, 2022, / Source: Reuters
Dozens of demonstrators angry over worsening economic conditions in Syria stormed the governor’s office in the southern city of Sweida on Sunday and set fire to parts of the building amid a heavy exchange of gunfire, the authorities and witnesses said.
Earlier, more than 200 people had gathered around the building in the center of the Druze-majority city, chanting slogans calling for the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad, they said, amid spiraling prices and economic hardship.
Syrian state media said tens of “outlaws” stormed the governor’s office and burned files and official papers.
Three witnesses told Reuters the governor was not in the building which was vacated before protesters stormed the offices.
“The governor’s office was burnt completely from the inside,” said Rayan Maarouf, a civic activist and editor of Suwayda 24, a local website that covers the southern region, who said several people were wounded in the exchange of gunshots.
“There was heavy gunfire,” Maarouf told Reuters, saying it was not clear from where the shooting came in the heavily policed area.
A source in the city hospital said one civilian who was being treated had died from gunshot wounds while another was still in hospital after being shot.
Sweida province has been spared the violence seen in other parts of Syria since the start of the over-decade long conflict that began after pro-democracy protests erupted against Assad’s family ruler were violently crushed by security forces.
01:50NOV. 22, 2022
The minority Druze sect, whose faith draws its roots from Islam, have long resisted being drawn into the Syrian conflict that pits mainly Sunni rebels against Assad’s rule.
Many community leaders and top Druze religious leaders have refused to sanction enlistment in the army.
Syria is in the throes of a deep economic crisis where a majority of people after a devastating conflict that killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions struggle to afford food and basic goods.
Witnesses in Sweida told Reuters that once inside the building, demonstrators brought down pictures of Assad.
Syria: Protesters storm governor's office in southern city of Sweida
A protester and a policeman have reportedly been killed during rare demonstrations in the southern Syrian city of Sweida.
Crowds angry because of the worsening economic conditions in Syria stormed the governor's office.
Eyewitnesses say the protesters set fire to the building amid exchanges of gunfire in the Druze-majority city.
Earlier about 200 demonstrators were reportedly calling for President Bashar al-Assad's overthrow.
Syria is in the grip of a severe economic downturn.
This has led to spiralling prices and increasing anger towards President Assad's regime in Sweida, which has avoided the worst violence of the Syrian war.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that a police officer was killed when protesters tried to storm the police station.
A protester was shot dead when security forces opened fire after demonstrators entered the government building, SOHR chief Rami Abdel Rahman told the AFP news agency.
"The governor's office was burnt completely from the inside," said Rayan Maarouf, a civic activist and editor of Suwayda 24, a local website that covers the region.
Several people were wounded in the exchange of gunshots, he told Reuters, adding it was unclear where the shooting came from.
Syrian state media said "outlaws" had stormed the governor's office and burned files and official papers.
The Turkey-based opposition Syria TV channel meanwhile reported that "hundreds" of protesters turned out to demonstrate against deteriorating living conditions, tearing up posters of the president inside and near the building, while calling for the "downfall of the regime".
SOHR reported that "dozens" of demonstrators gathered in Sweida town centre "to protest against the deteriorating living conditions and the failure of the regime in providing basic services".
It cited frequent power outages, water cuts, high fuel and food prices, and a breakdown in public security as reasons for the demonstration.
Syria has been at war since President Assad's forces cracked down on pro-democracy protests in 2011. Hundreds of thousands have died and millions have been displaced.
But Sweida province has been spared the violence seen in other parts of the country due to the Druze sect making efforts to avoid being drawn into the war, that pits mainly Sunni rebels against Assad's rule.
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