Activists in the southern Syrian province of Suwayda on Friday marked the first anniversary of an uprising against the Assad regime which took the country by surprise and has carried on for several months. The protests in Suwayda which began in August 2023 were reminiscent of the peaceful protests which took place across the country in 2011, calling for democracy and an end to the Assad regime’s dictatorship. They started as a reaction to the poor economic situation in the province and Syria as a whole, with people lamenting living conditions and the lack of basic necessities and services. But…