Syrian Government Captures Last Stretch of Highway Between Damascus and Aleppo

Syrian government forces now control all of the strategic Damascus to Aleppo highway, which they had been trying to wrest from Turkish-backed rebels for weeks. As Syrian troops continue to push ahead inside the rebel-held enclave of Idlib, Turkey sent reinforcements to observations posts it occupies, while dispatching its foreign minister to Moscow.

Syrian state TV showed bulldozers and engineering crews clearing rubble from the final stretch of the Damascus to Aleppo highway, which government forces captured from Turkish-backed rebels in Idlib province during the past several days.

Chief Highway Engineer Mohammed Wazzan said the highway is the main lifeline between Damascus and Aleppo, and government crews were working to reopen the last stretch — which it just captured — despite the bad condition of the roadway.

He says that maintenance crews are working hard to reopen the highway, which has been out of service for five years, clearing earth and rubble from the surface, making sure land mines have been removed, and spreading asphalt in some places.