Syrian government approves plan to restore services to Aleppo

The Syrian government has adopted a plan of action meant to restore public services and security to the northwestern city of Aleppo, whose eastern side was recently liberated from the Takfiri militants.

The initiative, which is aimed at helping Aleppo residents return to their normal lives, was approved during a special cabinet session chaired by Prime Minister Imad Khamis in Damascus on Saturday.

The plan includes a range of measures such as the opening of Aleppo roads, providing water, electricity and fuel to citizens as well as assessing conditions for repair and reconstruction activities there.

A mobile unit will be tasked with restoring electricity to the war-ridden city and refill cooking gas cylinders as well as two fuel stations.

Under the measure, the Interior Ministry should also work to increase security patrols and repair damaged police stations.

The initiative further stipulates the rehabilitation of two hospitals and five health centers as well as the renovation of Aleppo’s International Airport, a train track and Suleiman al-Halabi water-pumping station.

During Saturday’s session, the government further passed an emergency plan by the Education Ministry to repair 50 schools in Aleppo’s eastern sector over six months. The ministry seeks to renovate 100 schools in the entire city by the start of the next academic year.

Last December, the Syrian army established full control over Aleppo, which had long been divided between government forces in the west and the militants in the east. 

The Aleppo liberation came after the last remaining Takfiri elements were evacuated from the city along with civilians under a ceasefire deal between the government and foreign-backed militant groups.

The city’s recapture is widely seen as a crushing blow to the militants and their foreign supporters, who have been actively working to topple the Damascus government since March 2011.

The gain also set the stage for a nationwide halt to fighting in Syria that took effect on December 30, 2016 following an agreement between the warring parties.

French delegation in Aleppo

In another development on Saturday, a French parliamentary and media delegation toured Aleppo.

MP Thierry Mariani, the head of the delegation, said in a statement that what they saw was very different from what was being promoted by Western media.

He further noted that the major concern at this stage was how to help Syria in the reconstruction process, calling for the cooperation of international institutions to that effect.

He further hailed the Russian military campaign, which has played a significant part in the Syrian’s army battle against Takfiri terror groups.

The French delegation later held a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.

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