Violent riots have broken out in southern Syria, in an area that has hardly been involved in the civil war so far. Eyewitnesses report numerous injuries and at least one death.
In protest over the deep economic crisis in Syria, demonstrators stormed the governor’s seat in the city of Suwaida in the south of the country on Sunday. They set parts of the building on fire during violent exchanges of gunfire, authorities and eyewitnesses said.
Previously, more than 200 people had gathered around the building in the center of the city, which is mostly inhabited by Druze, and loudly called for President Bashir al-Assad to be overthrown. A hospital said a patient had succumbed to his gunshot wounds.
So far, Suwaida province has been spared the outbreaks of violence in Syria. The Druze religious minority, a disruption of Shia Islam, is trying not to be drawn into the Syrian conflict, which is dominated by Sunni rebels opposed to Assad’s rule. In the past two years, however, there have been several protests in Suwaida due to the poor economic situation.
A civil war has been raging in Syria for more than ten years, in which the UN estimates that more than 300,000 civilians have been killed.