Angry protesters raided the local offices of the ruling Baath party in a southern Syrian province Wednesday, as protests intensified against the country’s government during a severe economic and financial crisis battering the war-torn country.
Opposition activists said protesters also partially blocked a highway that links the Druze-majority Sweida province to the capital Damascus in anti-government rallies that broke out Tuesday night.
The demonstrations were sparked by worsening living conditions and inflation that surged after President Bashar Assad’s decision last week to double public sector wages and pensions.
The U.N. special envoy for Syria warned that the country’s collapsing economy will worsen as long as the more than 12-year conflict continues and a political solution is blocked.
Geir Petersen told the U.N. Security Council that in the last three months “a very bad economic situation has got even worse,” with the Syrian pound losing over 80% of its value, hitting last week an all-time low of 15,500 to the U.S. dollar at the unofficial market rate.
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