AMMAN – Hundreds of Syrians in the southern city of Deraa protested on Sunday at the erection of a new statue of President Bashar al-Assad’s late father, nearly eight years after the original was toppled at the outbreak of Syria’s civil war.
Demonstrators and witnesses said residents walked through the war-ravaged old quarter of the city calling for Assad’s overthrow, days before the eighth anniversary of the start of the conflict.
“Syria is ours, not for the house of Assad,” protesters chanted as security forces closed off the area to stop residents from other parts of the city joining the demonstration.
Deraa was where peaceful protests against 40 years of autocratic Assad family rule began in 2011, and were met by deadly force, before spreading across the country.
The Syrian army, aided by Russian airpower and Iranian militias, retook control of Deraa from rebel forces in July on its way to regaining control of the bulk of Syrian territory. (Reuters)
