Anti-government protests in southern Syria have entered their second week, with demonstrators waving the colorful flag of the minority Druze community, burning banners of President Bashar Assad, and at one point raiding several offices of his ruling party
Anti-government protests in southern Syria have entered their second week, with demonstrators waving the colorful flag of the minority Druze community, burning banners of President Bashar Assad and at one point raiding several offices of his ruling party.
Still, anger is building, even among Syrians who did not join the initial anti-Assad protests in 2011 that were met by a harsh crackdown and plunged the country into years of civil war. While Assad’s political fortunes have been on the rise in recent months, life for much of the country’s population has become increasingly miserable. At least 300,000 civilians have been killed in the conflict, half of Syria’s prewar population of 23 million has been displaced and large parts of the infrastructure have been crippled. Ninety percent of Syrians live in poverty. Rampant corruption and Western-led sanctions have also worsened poverty and inflation.
Joseph Daher, a Swiss-Syrian researcher and professor at the European University Institute in Florence, believes that this provides a layer of protection for protesters.Meanwhile, in Damascus, Lattakia, Tartous and other urban government strongholds, some are voicing their discontent more quietly. They write messages of support for the protests on paper, take pictures of those notes on the streets of their towns, and share them on social media.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Syria's Assad's ruling party shut by protests in rebellious Druze cityProtesters demanding an end to authoritarian rule shut the ruling Baath party headquarters in the southwestern Syrian Druze city of Sweida as protests which entered their second week showed no signs of abating, civic activists and witnesses said.
Read more »
Former Navy SEAL who took credit for killing Osama bin Laden arrested in TexasRobert J. O'Neill claims he fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011.
Read more »
US Congress members make a rare visit to opposition-held northwest SyriaThree US Congress members have made a brief visit to opposition-held northwest Syria in the first known trip to the war-torn country by American lawmakers in six years
Read more »
US Congress members make a rare visit to opposition-held northwest SyriaThree US Congress members have made a brief visit to opposition-held northwest Syria in the first known trip to the war-torn country by American lawmakers in six years
Read more »