Shots fired at anti-Assad protesters

Beirut — Shots were fired at anti-government protesters in the southern Syrian city of Sweida on Wednesday, activists and local journalists said, in the first reported use of violence in a long series of demonstrations there.

Activists, who have been taking to the streets to call for President Bashar al-Assad to step down over worsening living conditions, accused members of the ruling Ba’ath party of firing the shots. Reuters could not independently confirm this.

In a video posted online by the Sweida24 activist collective, men could be seen running away from the entrance of a building as  about two dozen gunshots were heard.

The caption identified the building as the local headquarters for the Ba’ath party and said protesters were trying to shut it down. Demonstrators forced its temporary closure in late August.

Sweida24 said three wounded people were being treated at hospital.

Conflict erupted in Syria in 2011 with rallies against Assad in the country’s south and quickly morphed into an all-out war that has left hundreds of thousands dead and displaced millions.

Assad recaptured most of the country with help from his allies Russia and Iran. Even with frontlines calmer, the country’s economy remained in tatters and its humanitarian needs skyrocketed.

Still, open criticism of the government was extremely rare in Assad-held areas until the government’s decision to lift fuel subsidies  in August prompted fresh protests concentrated in Sweida.

Reuters