Syria poverty protests spread to 'regime-held Aleppo'

Protests in Syria over the worsening economic situation in regime-held areas have reportedly spread to parts of the city of Aleppo.

Demonstrations erupted on Wednesday evening in Aleppo's Al-Firdous, Al-Sukkari, and Salah al-Din neighbourhoods, Syria TV reported, citing local sources.

Regime security forces used armoured vehicles to disperse the protests in Al-Firdous.

Protests have been rocking several parts of Syria since last week, after Assad's decision to double public sector wages and pensions sent inflation soaring in Latakia, Suweida, and Daraa. 

All these areas are under the control of Bashar Al-Assad's forces with the former seen as a bastion for the regime's support.

Living conditions in the country, already dire after years of war, sanctions, corruption, and economic mismanagement, deepened by a massive rise in inflation shrinking salaries and worsening living standards.

The protests have coincided with the launch by Syrian activists of the "10th of August Movement", which calls for peaceful demonstrations and strikes over "the state's disregard for the future of the people".

Demonstrations have taken place in restive regime-held parts of southern Syria, including Daraa and Suweida.

In Suweida, protesters raided the local offices of the ruling Baath party on Wednesday night. They also partially blocked a road leading to the Syrian capital of Damascus, opposition activists said.

Protests in regime-held areas - particularly northern areas such as Aleppo - are rare, however.

Syria's ongoing war began in 2011, after a brutal regime crackdown on peaceful protest and non-violent dissent. More than half a million people have died and millions have been displaced as a result of the war.