Druze protest in Syria: Thousands demonstrated Tuesday morning in the city of As-Sweida on the Druze Mountain in southern Syria. Along with tens of thousands on strike, this is a record butter that has lasted more than two weeks and has become a major challenge for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Yesterday, a large rally was held in the center of al-Sweida, the largest Druze city in the world with more than 100,000 residents, shouting slogans against the regime and a change of government. The protest began as small demonstrations against frequent power and water cuts in the province and the sharp rise in fuel prices in the country. But the violent attempt to suppress the demonstrations quickly pitted the demonstrators against the regime itself and its leader.
Syria: Huge Druze demonstration against the regime
Dozens of demonstrators broke into the headquarters of the Baath Party, Syria's ruling party, in the city and welded the doors, closing the building. The demonstrators claimed that from there the regime tried to suppress the demonstrations and that they managed to expel the party militants from the city.
The demonstrators carry Druze national flags and shout slogans against the regime and against Assad himself. The Sweida-24 news channel covers the protests and transmits, through its base outside the country, the voices of the protesters. One protester told the channel live: "From Mount Druze we call you Bashar [Assad], leave Syria now, we are not interested in you. You have two options: leave now with your honor or you will die."
Al-Sweida was under the control of the Assad regime throughout the country's long civil war, which began in 2011. During the uprising in the south of the country and until 2018, the city was threatened by forces of extremist organizations such as Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS, and a local Druze militia was established to defend Druze communities in the area. The Druze were outraged at the time by the militia's treatment by the regime and claimed that it had not been supplied with enough ammunition to operate effectively.
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