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Southern Syria hit by rare anti-Assad protests

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

Rare protests against Syrian regime's leader Bashar al Assad's government have shown no sign of abating with demonstrations reported in a string of towns in Daraa and Sweida provinces.

Dozens of people demonstrated in the Daraa province town of Bosra al Sham on Friday, openly calling for an end to Assad's rule.

"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.

Demonstrators held placards reading: "Leave! We want to live," and: "Silence today means the tyrant continues."

"We will not go back on our demands for freedom, dignity and a united Syria," Mekdad said.

Activists from the Daraa Martyrs Documentation Office said similar protests were also held in at least eight other places in the province.

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.

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

Daraa returned to government control in 2018 under a Russia-brokered deal with rebel forces. It has since been wracked by insecurity, violence and dire living conditions.

Syrians protest against Assad, YPG/PKK terror group in northern Syria

"Syria is not the Assad family's"

In neighbouring Sweida, hundreds of people rallied in the provincial capital in the biggest demonstration since the protests began last week.

Demonstrators revived slogans from the Arab Spring protests of 2011, including: "The people want the fall of the regime", and: "Syria is ours and not the Assad family's", footage posted by the Suwayda24 news outlet showed.

Sweida has seen sporadic demonstrations over living conditions in the past. In December, one protester and a policeman were killed when security forces broke up a demonstration in the provincial capital.