Road blockades spread across Syria for a second consecutive day as public anger grew over a sharp government-imposed hike in fuel prices, with diesel rising roughly 40 percent and gasoline climbing by more than a quarter. Protesters set fire to tires and cut off major highways in Hasakah, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, Aleppo, Idlib and Daraa, disrupting truck traffic and halting convoys of crude oil tankers trying to reach domestic refineries. Demonstrators also severed the al-Suway'iya bridge linking Deir ez-Zor with Iraq and blocked routes tied to grain storage and the al-Omar oil field, choking off supply lines that much of the country depends on. In several locations, security forces reportedly fired live ammunition in attempts to disperse crowds, while one young man in Hasakah province attempted self-immolation before bystanders intervened.

The unrest is piling pressure on the government in Damascus, which says the increases were driven by global energy costs and Syria's continued reliance on fuel imports to cover a large gap between domestic oil production and demand. Syria's People's Assembly has summoned Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir to explain the decision, and lawmakers have scheduled an emergency parliamentary session for later this week as calls grow for the price hikes to be reversed. With transportation and food costs now threatened nationwide, the protests mark one of the broadest waves of public dissent since the fall of the Assad government, testing the new administration's ability to manage economic strain across the country.