Hundreds of people participated today in protests in Syria, in the provinces of Al-Hasakah, in the northeast, Idlib, in the northwest, Deir Ezzor and Raqqa, in the east, and in the rural areas of Aleppo, in the north of the country. The information was reported by Syrian media outlets and by the Human Rights Observatory.
The protests erupted after the Syrian Ministry of Energy announced on Saturday an increase in petroleum product prices. The ministry justified the measure with "an exceptional increase in the global cost of acquiring these products" and stated that the increase would be temporary.
The protests took place simultaneously in various regions of Syrian territory, covering both urban and rural areas, which demonstrates a significant spread of popular dissatisfaction with the government decision.
The announcement of the fuel price increase comes in a particularly difficult economic context for the Syrian population, which has been facing for years the consequences of years of conflict and a severe economic crisis in the country.
