Four consecutive days of mobilization in southern Syria

Illustrative photo: Civilians return to the city after Hassakeh, Syria, Sunday January 30, 2022 after the end of the fighting.

AP - Baderkhan Ahmad

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

For the fourth day in a row, residents of the southern province of Soueida, Syria, continued their protest on Wednesday, February 9 against the deterioration of living conditions and against government austerity measures.

The authorities have sent reinforcements to try to contain the movement which is not weakening, according to the NGO Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

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With our regional correspondent,

Paul Khalifeh

The unprecedented protest movement against the government's response to the economic and social difficulties in the province of Soueida, in the south of Syria, is settling in for a long time.

Despite the freezing cold, hundreds of protesters took to the streets in several localities in this predominantly Druze province.

The protesters close the roads with burning tires and prohibit the passage to public sector officials and security forces.

Only pupils, students, teachers and employees of the private sector are authorized to travel from one region to another.

The demonstrators repeatedly closed the Soueida-Damascus highway, and occupied the central square in the city of Soueida, capital of the eponymous province.

The security forces, who have so far avoided violently dispersing the demonstrators, sent in significant reinforcements on Wednesday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

The protests erupted after the Syrian government decided to scrap 600,000 supply cards allowing people to buy food and fuel at subsidized prices.

90% of Syrians live below the poverty line.

Ten years of war have destroyed the economy and devastated the infrastructure.

Western sanctions, including the US so-called “Caesar” law, have made the situation worse.

►Read again: In Syria, major demonstrations against al-Assad in the province of Soueida

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