Source: US News & World Report
“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 weeks-long 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 around two dozen gunshots were heard. The caption identified the building as the local headquarters for the Ba’ath party and said protesters had been trying to close it down. Demonstrators temporarily forced its closure in late August.” (09/13/23)