ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Syrian regime has recently sent troops and tanks into the southern province of Suwayda, which has been engulfed in anti-government protests for over eight months. A Suwayda-based analyst described the move as a “retaliatory step to end the protests.”
“The recent military developments and sending more military forces incites controversy and at the same time fear of a military confrontation scenario that may occur, especially since the [Syrian] authority does not pay attention to the security problems in the province,” Morhaf al-Shaer, director of the Intifada Media Center in Suwayda, told Rudaw on Saturday.
Protests over poor living conditions have regularly taken place in the Druze-majority Suwayda since August, driven by a surge in prices after the government decided to end fuel subsidies. The demonstrators have called for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. The Intifada Media Center has covered the nine months of protests. Intifada means uprising.
Local media outlet Suwayda 24 last week reported that a large military convoy of more than 50 vehicles, including tanks and cars equipped with medium-size machine guns, had entered the province.
Shaer said that even though the goal of the deployment has yet to be stated by the Syrian regime, “there appear to be intentions to put down the uprising in light of regional developments.”
He added that the people of Suwayda will continue demanding their rights through peaceful demonstrations, but stressed that “in the event of transgression, the response will be in a way that preserves the dignity and honor of the people of Suwayda.”
Jawad al-Barouki, a 54-year-old protester, was killed during the demonstrations when he was struck with a bullet to the chest in late February, marking the first death in the Suwayda protest movement. His death was blamed on Syrian government forces.
Syrians rose up against Assad’s regime in March 2011, leading to a full-scale civil war that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and has left millions more in need of humanitarian assistance.
Assisted by Russian air attacks and Iranian support, Assad regained control over most of the country after 13 years of war, but areas in the north remain out of Damascus’ control.