Anti-government protests take hold in southern Syria

Source: Agence France-Presse

Anti-government protests take hold in southern Syria

Issued on: 25/08/2023 - 18:12
Modified: 25/08/2023 - 18:10

2 min

Bosra al-Sham (Syria) (AFP) – Rare protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government showed no sign of abating Friday with demonstrations reported in a string of towns in Daraa and Sweida provinces.

The protests began late last week after the government ended fuel subsidies, dealing a heavy blow to Syrians reeling from years of war and economic crisis.

In the Daraa province town of Bosra al-Sham, dozens of people demonstrated, openly calling for an end to Assad's rule, an AFP correspondent said.

"We have come to the streets in Bosra al-Sham to confirm our continuation of the Syrian revolution and the demands that brought us here in 2011," activist Ahmad Mekdad said on the sidelines of the protest.

Daraa province was the cradle of the 2011 uprising, which Assad bloodily suppressed, triggering more than a decade of civil war which has killed more than half a million people and driven millions more from their homes.

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