Rare anti-government protest lead to 2 deaths in Syria’s Sweida city

A protester and a policeman have reportedly been killed during demonstrations in the southern Syrian city of Sweida.

Angry crowds have stormed the governor's office in southern Syria in protest of the worsening economic conditions in a rare sight of protest in the country.

According to the BBC, eyewitnesses say the protesters set fire to the building amid exchanges of gunfire.

Earlier about 200 demonstrators were reportedly calling for President Bashar al-Assad's overthrow in the city of Sweida, which has avoided the worst violence of the Syrian war.

Syria is experiencing a serious economic downturn, which has led to spiralling prices and increasing anger towards President Assad.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that a police officer was killed when protesters tried to storm the police station and a protester shot dead when security forces opened fire after demonstrators entered the government building.

"The governor's office was burnt completely from the inside," said Rayan Maarouf, a civic activist and editor of Suwayda 24, a local website that covers the region.

He also reported that several people were wounded in the exchange of gunshots, adding it was unclear where the shooting came from.

Syrian state media reported on the incident, saying "outlaws" had stormed the governor's office and burned files and official papers.

The Türkiye-based opposition Syria TV channel meanwhile reported that hundreds of protesters turned out to demonstrate against deteriorating living conditions, tearing up posters of President Assad inside and near the building and calling for the "downfall of the regime".

SOHR cited frequent power outages, water cuts, high fuel and food prices, and a breakdown in public security as reasons for the demonstration.