Locals in the southwestern Syrian city of Sweida have been demonstrating against their government since mid-August last year and up until last week, the protests had been peaceful.

They had included art exhibitions and cultural shows. Demonstrators regularly cleaned up afterwards and even served food to local police.

And despite the fact that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons on its own people, detained and tortured thousands, and is seen as responsible for nearly half a million dead and millions more Syrians displaced, government security forces had not acted against Sweida's protesters.

But last week, after security forces fired their guns during a protest outside a government office, one local man, Jawad al-Barouki, 52, died and another was badly injured.

"In Sweida, we are well aware that bullets are the regime's preferred method," Lubna Albassit, one of the protesters in the province, said when asked if people were more frightened about protesting now. "We know it was waiting for our movement to fade away. But as the demonstrations have gone on, it began to try and intimidate us."

But it won't work, a determined Albassit continued. "These bullets will not frighten us. We already knew that we'd have to face their bullets at some stage — even just for protesting peacefully. "

The protests in Sweida were sparked by economic dissatisfaction, and high petrol prices in particular, but have evolved into........

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