Syrians Hold 3 Days of Anti-Assad Protests

Syrians in the government-held city of Sweida have staged three straight days of protests over deteriorating living conditions in the civil war-torn country. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog group, dozens of demonstrators marched through streets while shouting slogans such as “The people want to topple the regime” of President Bashar al-Assad. The development comes as the value of the Syrian currency on the black market plummeted over the past week from about 2,300 to more than 3,000 pounds to the US dollar. The official rate, which stood at stood at 47 when the conflict erupted nearly a decade ago, is currently hovering at around 700. The civil war began in 2011 with a violent crackdown on anti-Assad protests and has since morphed into a brutal proxy battle between world powers. The ongoing fighting has killed an estimated 400,000 people and displaced more than 10 million.