The PKK terror group's Syrian branch, the YPG, on Tuesday opened fire on civilians protesting fuel price hikes in parts of northeastern Syria under their control, killing at least two.
Local residents angered by the new prices imposed by the terror group in areas under its occupation took to the streets in many parts of northeastern Syria.
The terrorists said Monday that it was doubling, and in some cases, tripling the cost of fuel.
Dozens of people took to the streets in the city of Qamishli and other areas Tuesday calling on the YPG to reverse the price hike, Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondents reported.
Clashes broke out when protesters and gunmen stormed a base in the town of Shadadi belonging to the terrorists, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
As a result of the gunfire opened by the terrorists to disperse the protesters in the al-Nashwa district of Hassakeh province, at least two civilians, identified as Ayman Shahir and Abdulkadir Asad, were killed, and four civilians injured.
The tension between the locals and the terrorists continues to escalate, particularly in Syria's Deir el-Zour and Hassakeh provinces and the surrounding areas.
Having seized most of Syria's energy resources, the YPG terror group has also forcibly and disproportionately raised fuel prices.
Faced with the hike amid their limited purchasing power, residents in northern Syria are now pouring out into the streets.
The price hike saw the cost of diesel climb to 400 Syrian pounds ($0.30 at the official exchange rate) per liter from 150 pounds, and petrol reaching 410 pounds per liter from 210 pounds. Canisters of gas used in homes are now selling for 8,000 Syrian pounds, up from 2,500 pounds.
The price hikes come on top of an accelerating economic crisis that has weakened the value of the Syrian pound and plunged wide segments of Syria's population into poverty.
The YPG terrorists control some of Syria's largest gas and oil fields but are not producing enough oil and gas to meet demand.
Heating fuel, petrol and cooking gas have been in short supply in recent months and motorists have grown used to waiting in long queues to fill up.
Areas occupied by the YPG in the provinces of Deir el-Zour and Hassakeh are considered Syria's richest in terms of energy resources, including oil and natural gas.
Located on the border with Iraq, Deir el-Zour has the largest energy resources in the war-torn country, with the area on the eastern bank of the city divided by the Euphrates River has 11 large oil fields.
The YPG terrorist group continues to occupy 70% of Syrian oil resources, with support from the United States, while oil refineries remain under the regime's control.
The terror group cut off fuel provisions to the Bashar Assad regime 25 days ago, citing accumulating debt.
Amid protests, regime loyalists in the city of Hassakeh – parts of which are controlled by forces loyal to the Assad regime – attacked a terrorist position, according to the SOHR. Three people were injured, it said.
Syria used to produce almost 400,000 barrels of oil per day before the Syrian civil war erupted. But 10 years of conflict have ravaged production, with the oil sector's losses estimated at $91.5 billion.
In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
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