Xinhua News Agency, Damascus, February 22 (Reporter Zheng Yizheng) The Syrian Ministry of Transport announced on the 22nd that the highway between the Syrian capital Damascus and the northern town of Aleppo has officially resumed operation.
Syrian Minister of Transport Ali Hamoud announced to the media that the Damascus-Aleppo Highway was officially opened to traffic and opened to the Syrian public. In addition, rail repairs have begun between the western cities of Homs, Hama and Aleppo, and are expected to be completed within a few months.
Introducing the restoration of the highway, the director of the General Directorate of Syrian Highway and Transportation, Yasser Haider, said that the 105-kilometer section of the Damascus-Aleppo road from Hansehong to Aleppo was previously controlled by terrorists and damaged by artillery fire. The road is badly damaged. Although the transportation department immediately organized personnel to repair the road immediately after the liberation of the Syrian army, the road was not completely repaired, and everyone should slow down when passing.
On February 14, Syrian government forces announced full control of the road between Damascus and Aleppo. This is the first time that the Syrian government forces have fully controlled this strategic point in eight years.
The Damascus-Aleppo Highway is located in western Syria, connecting major cities such as Damascus in the western Syrian Arab Republic, Homs and Hama in the central Syrian Arab Republic, and Aleppo, the northern economic capital. It connects the highway to the Syrian-Jordan border to the south. Material transportation is of great strategic significance.
In 2012, Syrian opposition armed occupied Idlib and southern Aleppo provinces, cut off the Damascus-Aleppo highway, and then traveled more than 150 kilometers from Damascus to Aleppo. To regain this strategic point, since December last year, Syrian government forces have launched a new round of military operations against armed groups in Idlib and Aleppo provinces.