Protests have spread across Syria after another fuel price rise, the clearest show of public anger yet under President Ahmed al Sharaa as living costs climb and the promised recovery after Bashar al Assad fails to arrive for many families.

Last month demonstrators burned tyres, blocked roads and chanted against the latest increase. Television interviews captured supporters of the authorities saying they could no longer afford bread, and others saying they feared what each morning's new decision would bring. The fuel rise was later revoked amid calls for further demonstrations, but it sat on top of a longer run of subsidy cuts and price jumps for essentials.

Sharaa rose to the presidency after rebel forces he led ousted Assad, ending five decades of family rule and more than 13 years of war. The transition was always going to strain a shattered economy after isolation and conflict. Many Syrians nonetheless hoped freedoms would be matched by faster relief on bills and wages. Instead the cost of power, transport and basic goods has kept rising, and some residents complain that visible spending on roundabouts and city projects feels disconnected from household hardship.

The unrest does not yet amount to a full break with the new authorities, and some protesters still say they back the government while rejecting its economic course. It does show that post Assad legitimacy is being tested less on battlefield victory than on whether salaries can buy bread and fuel. How Damascus handles the next subsidy or price decision will shape whether discontent stays on the street or hardens into a lasting political crisis.