DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – A riot in Syria’s Sweida province turned violent on Sunday leading to the deaths of a protester and a police officer, and wounding seven others.
The rioters
Though Sweida has generally been spared from the violent riots, protests have occurred in the province over the past few years, with tensions simmering between residents and the Syrian government led by President Assad.
Dozens of armed men gathered by the Sweida governorate building, under the pretext of the dire economic situation and chanting anti-government slogans before some broke into the building.
The Syrian Interior Minister in a statement said that the people who raided the building were armed, and destroyed furniture, smashed windows, and looted files. The statement added that a police officer was killed after the rioters attacked a police station.
Syrian state media also said “outlaws” rushed into the governor’s office and burned files and official papers.
Nashaat al-Atrash, a Druze legislator in Syria’s Parliament condemned riots for raiding the governorate building and called for calm. “All of Syria is going through an economic crisis,” he said on Syria’s Al-Ikhbaria television, adding that outside forces could be trying to stoke tensions through the angry demonstrations.
After a Daesh terrorist attack on Sweida in 2018, more residents took arms to protect their neighborhoods. Local activists have reported clashes last summer between armed residents and Syrian government and security agencies.
Syria is in the throes of an economic crisis where a majority of people struggle to afford food and basic goods due to Western sanctions that mostly affect civilians and the decade-old foreign-backed war.