BEIRUT: Security forces slapped down on a rare demonstration by hundreds over deteriorating living circumstances on Sunday, and the result was the deaths of a protester and a police officer in Sweida, a city in southern Syria.
After demonstrators seized a government building and flung rocks at it, removing a sizable image of President Bashar al-Assad from its exterior, tensions were high in the regime-held city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Observatory, stated that “at least one demonstrator and one police officer were murdered.”He added that government forces have spread out around the city, dispersing demonstrations. He claimed that the protester was shot dead when security forces opened fire after protesters invaded the premises.
In addition to the two confirmed fatalities, four additional people with gunshot wounds were reportedly taken to a hospital in the Druze-majority city.Other pictures showed burning tyres on the city’s main roadways as well as a burning military vehicle. In some of the video, there were audible gunshots.
One policeman was murdered during an attempted raid on police headquarters, according to Syria’s interior ministry. According to the ministry, several demonstrators had guns.
We will track down the offenders and pursue legal action against anyone who tries to jeopardise the security and stability of the Sweida governorate and the protection of its citizens, the ministry said in a statement released on Sunday.
