Rare protest staged in Syria's al-Raqqa

The Syrian province of al-Raqqa saw rare anti-government protests on Friday that took by surprise both the government and the opposition.

The northern province was once a government stronghold and anti-government protests since the uprising began last year had been modest.

Last November, President Bashar al-Assad broke with tradition to perform Muslim Eid al-Adha prayers in Raqqa, rather than in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.

His visit was seen as a way of saying thank you for the support of Raqqa's people since the uprising began.

But it appears Assad may no longer have that support.

Al Jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamayleh reports.