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Syria: commercial flight lands at Aleppo airport, first for eight years

2020-02-19T12:02:50.311Z



A civilian flight booked by Syrian ministers and journalists landed at Aleppo airport on Wednesday from Damascus. A first in eight years of conflict.

Read also: Syria to reopen Aleppo airport to commercial flights

The robbery comes a few days after government forces reconquered all areas around Aleppo, securing the country's second city by repelling jihadists and rebels who fired rockets into the large metropolis in the north. The reopening of Aleppo airport and the recent reconquest of the M5 motorway which links the city to the capital Damascus represent a symbolic and economic victory for the authorities of Bashar al-Assad.

Quoted by the official Sana agency, the Minister of Transport Ali Hammoud, who was on board the Syrian Air aircraft with the Minister of Tourism, welcomed the reopening of the airport and the next resumption - date to be specified - domestic and international flights. "It is a significant victory achieved thanks to the sacrifices of the heroic Syrian army and the determination of the Syrian people," he said. Authorities said on Monday that flights to Damascus and Cairo will be scheduled "in the coming days".

Read also: Syria: 31 dead in the explosion of ammunition at a regime military airport

Aleppo airport, east of the metropolis, stopped all commercial flights in 2012, the year when rebel groups took control of the eastern parts of the city. Capital of the province of the same name, Aleppo was taken over in full in late 2016 by the power of Bashar al-Assad. Test flights were carried out in 2017.

The reconquests in the vicinity of Aleppo are taking place as part of an offensive launched in December with the support of Moscow, against the ultimate great jihadist and rebel bastion in north-western Syria, namely the Idleb region and bordering sectors. The jihadists of Hayat Tahrir al-Cham (HTS, former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda) still dominate more than half of the province of Idleb and adjoining sectors in those of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia.

Read also: In Idlib, the bloody breakthrough of the Syrian regime

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-02-19

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