Monitoring Desk
AMMAN: At least two people including a police cop were killed after dozens of protesters stormed the governor’s office in the southern Syria’s city of Sweida on Sunday.
Over 200 people stormed the building in the Druze-majority city, protesting the worsening economic conditions, and demanding the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Slogan against Asad in Syria
During the anti-government protests, the protesters chanted “Down with Assad,” slogans, a rare event in the government-controlled area.
The angry people took to the streets amid spiralling prices and economic hardships.
According to the Syrian state media, tens of “outlaws” ransacked the governor’s office and burned files and official papers.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Ministry of Interior said that the protesters also tried to seize the city’s police headquarters, and a police cop was killed in the ensuing clashes.
The statement said that the interior ministry said that they will pursue the outlaws and saboteurs and take all legal measures against those who dared undermine the province’s security and stability.
Rayan Maarouf, the editor of Suwayda 24, a website that mostly covers the southern region, said that the governor’s office was burnt completely from the inside and several people were injured during the exchange of gunshots.
“There was heavy gunfire,” Maarouf said adding it was unclear from where the shooting came from in the heavily policed area.
A source in the city hospital said that one civilian being treated died from gunshot wounds while another was still in the hospital after being shot and injured.
Sweida province has rarely seen violence since the start of the over-decade-long conflict that started after pro-democracy protests erupted against Assad rule, violently crushed by his security forces.
The minority Druze sect have long resisted being drawn into the Syrian conflict that pits rebels against Assad’s rule.
