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Hundreds gathered in southern Syria on Friday urging President Bashar al-Assad to step down, capping nearly two weeks of demonstrations that erupted over poor living conditions but have spiralled into renewed calls for political change.

"Bashar out, Syria free!" shouted a large crowd in the southern Druze city of Suweida. "Syria is not a farm, we are not sheep," read another poster.

This picture is of my brave friend from inside the protests in Sweida today.
she reminds the world that Syrians and Ukrainians are suffering from the same criminals. The Syrian people are truly resilient despite all the suffering, and we stand with Ukraine, continuing to send…

— Nedal Al-Amari (@nedalalamari)

Syria is in a deep economic crisis that saw its currency plunge to a record 15,500 Syrian pounds to the dollar last month in a rapidly accelerating free-fall. It traded at 47 pounds to the dollar at the start of the conflict 12 years ago.

Demonstrations broke out in Suweida in August over the removal of fuel subsidies. Home province of most of Syria's Druze community, Suweida remained in regime hands throughout the war and was largely spared the violence seen elsewhere.

Open criticism of the regime remained rare in the areas it controls but as the economic situation grew worse, the discontent has gone public.

Friday's turnout was large despite apparent divisions within the Druze leadership over the demonstrations. Some Druze sheikhs have criticized protesters' calls for Assad to step down and say that any improvement to the socioeconomic situation must come through dialogue.

Dozens also gathered on Friday in the province of Daraa, where the 2011 protests kicked off. They carried the three-star flag emblematic of Syria's uprising, as well as signs criticising the role of Iran, a key Assad ally.

For the past two weeks, anti-government protests in Syria have been gaining momentum, especially in Suweida, the heartland of Druze Syria in the southwest. The protests were initially driven by the worsening cost of living amid a crumbling economy, but quickly shifted focus 👇

— °®Âþµº (@The_NewArab)

Residents of other regime-held parts of Syria - where restrictions are tighter - have made more discrete gestures of protest to avoid detection by regime forces.

In the coastal province of Tartus on Thursday, some residents held up small postcards reading "Syria belongs to us, not to the [ruling] Ba'ath party," according to photographs posted on activists' social media pages. A large billboard portraying Assad's picture could be seen in the background. 

(Reuters)