Syria: Bashar al-Assad makes his first visit to Aleppo since the start of the conflict
A photo released by the Syrian presidency on July 8 shows Bashar al-Assad visiting a thermal power plant in Aleppo province.
AFP - -
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For the first time since the start of the conflict in 2011, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited the city of Aleppo and the province of the same name on Friday, July 8, theaters of the deadliest battles of the war.
Considered the economic capital of Syria, Aleppo was turned into a field of ruins by the fighting between 2012 and 2016, the year it was taken over by government troops with the support of Russia and Iran.
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With our correspondent in Beirut
,
Paul Khalifeh
Bashar al-Assad's visit to Aleppo aims to highlight the reconstruction effort, slowed down by American and European sanctions.
The city and its eponymous province employed before the war almost 50% of Syria's industrial workforce, and housed 17 industrial zones.
The Syrian head of state inspected the reconstruction works of one of Syria's main thermal power plants, east of Aleppo, which will supply the city and its suburbs, which have been suffering from rationing for years draconian electric current.
Bashar al-Assad also witnessed the reopening of a completely destroyed water pumping station in 2012.
Images released by Syrian state media show President Assad inspecting the thermal power plant and pumping station, surrounded by employees and officials.
The Syrian government was under fire from Aleppo business circles because of the slow pace of the reconstruction process.
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To read also The head of Iranian diplomacy in Syria, after the threats of Turkey
Assad's visit comes as Turkey threatens to launch a
new offensive
in northern Syria to establish a 30-kilometre-deep safe zone.
Rebels close to Ankara and the Turkish army control part of northern Aleppo, where Russian soldiers, Lebanese Hezbollah and units of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are deployed.
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To read also Syria: how the rebels lost the battle of Aleppo
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Bashar al-Assad
Syria