The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces hailed the “brave” anti-regime popular protests in the southern Daraa province following the erection of a statue of late President Hafez Assad in the area.
Protesters took to the streets of Daraa city on Sunday to call for the overthrow of the regime.
Daraa 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 coalition praised the renewed protests, saying Daraa was once again expressing its commitment to the demands of the revolt and the sacrifices of the Syrian people.
“The illegitimate regime will not be able to impose itself on the consciences of the free Syrian people,” it stressed in a statement.
The Syrian people’s struggle against oppression and injustice is a national duty, it added. The Syrians will continue this struggle through all possible means until they witness the rise of a democratic civil state.
“This state refuses to be a symbol of oppression and criminality. It refuses to be a center for the export of terrorism,” said the coalition.
Residents of the city of al-Bab in the Aleppo province voiced their solidarity with Daraa, with dozens of locals taking to the streets to protest against the regime. They also took to social media to back the rallies.
Social media users throughout Syria also stressed that the “Daraa flame will never be put out,” expressing their commitment to the revolt until the regime is overthrown.
The Syrian regime, aided by Russian airpower and Iranian militias, retook control of Daraa from opposition forces in July.
But since then, residents of Daraa say disaffection has been growing as Assad’s secret police once more tighten their control and a campaign of arrests has sowed widespread fear.
The regime had given schools and regime employees a day off on Sunday to attend a pro-regime rally to inaugurate the new bronze statue of late president, erected on the site of the previous statue felled by protesters.
That rally broke up after gunfire from near the square caused panic among attendees, a witness said.
A group of youths protesting in Daraa’s old quarter carried a placard reading: “It will fall. Your statue is from the past, it’s not welcome here.”
Lawyer and activist Adnan Masalma said: “People have gathered without organization and to peacefully demonstrate over just demands.”
“The country has been destroyed and, instead of reconstruction, we place memorials,” read another protest placard.
