Protests have erupted across multiple Syrian cities after the government raised fuel prices by up to 40 percent on diesel and 28 percent on petrol, effective Sunday. Demonstrators in Hama, Khan Sheikhoun, and Maarat al-Numan (cities in northwestern Syria) burned tyres and blocked a major highway connecting Aleppo to Türkiye for several hours. The government attributed the increases to rising global import costs and a temporary shutdown of the Baniyas refinery for upgrades, describing the hikes as provisional — a particularly sensitive issue for a country still rebuilding after 14 years of war and currently dependent on imports to meet roughly two-thirds of its daily fuel needs.