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At least eight people were killed and scores injured on Tuesday when U.S. backed Kurdish-led forces fired live rounds to disperse Arab tribal protests against their rule in the Syrian city of Manbij, according to security and medical sources and residents, Reuters reported.

The protests took a violent turn when hundreds of demonstrators marched near checkpoints around the city a day after one civilian was killed in protests that swept the area demanding the end of Kurdish minority rule over a mainly Arab tribal population.

The unrest was the bloodiest to sweep the mainly Arab city since it was captured five years ago by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S. backed militia force spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG after it drove out Islamic State.

Resentment against SDF rule has grown in north and eastern Syria among the predominately Arab population, residents and tribal elders said. Many object to compulsory conscription of young men and discrimination in top leadership layers.

The fate of thousands imprisoned in their jails has also been a major bone of contention, according to residents and tribal figures.

SDF officials imposed a curfew on the city and beefed up checkpoints around its main routes after many shops heeded a call for a general strike.