“We want to eat! We want to live!”: Demonstrators protest poor living conditions in Syrian regime controlled Dayro Zcuro

DAYRO ZCURO, Syria — Local sources reported that residents of Dayro Zcuro (Deir ez-Zor) city, under the control of the Syrian government, held anti-government demonstrations on Friday, decrying the deterioration of living conditions and lack of basic goods.

“We want to eat. We want to live. We need electricity,” read the banners of the demonstrators. Dayro Zcuro west of the Euphrates River has suffered from a lack of gasoline, heating oil, and basic foodstuffs since the Syrian regime took control of the city in late 2017.

To prevent similar demonstrations, regime forces have been deployed to checkpoints in public squares and gathering areas.

The regime has been steadily losing control of the region to Iranian-backed militias. The Zainabiyoun militias previously forced regime units to evacuate many of their checkpoints on the river strip of Abu Kamal following disputes between locals and regime-aligned militias over abuses committed by the latter.