On Friday, President Bashar al-Assad visited a major power plant and water pumping station in northern Syria, according to a statement by the president, as part of the first announced visit to Aleppo province since the start of the conflict, which has been going on for more than 11 years. And the president’s Telegram account reported that al-Assad visited the Aleppo thermal plant in eastern Aleppo to witness “the start-up of the plant’s fifth group after its restoration.” The president quoted al-Assad as saying that “the province of Aleppo has suffered more from terrorism and sabotage than other provinces, and therefore the people of Aleppo have a right to be the biggest beneficiaries of the plant’s renovation.” which is one of the main stations in Syria, and its redesign will help provide electricity to Aleppo and its suburbs. Al-Assad said: “Rehabilitation and reconstruction work at the thermal power plant in Aleppo sends one signal: all obstacles and difficulties collapse before the will and determination.”
Al-Assad also attended the opening of a pumping station in the city of Tal Hazel in eastern Aleppo, which was shut down in 2012 due to the conflict. This is Assad’s first visit to Aleppo province, much of which has been out of government control since 2012. In recent years, government forces have gradually regained control of much of the province after heavy fighting with opposition groups and ISIS. .
The battle for control of the city of Aleppo, considered the economic capital of Syria, is considered the most outstanding victory for government forces backed by Russia and the biggest blow dealt to opposition groups that have taken control of eastern Syria. city from 2012 to 2016.
The Syrian government has not yet prepared the entire province, especially the border strip with Turkey, control of which is divided between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian factions backed by Turkish forces. The Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham (formerly Al-Nusra) also controls limited areas in its western countryside. According to the head of state, the commissioning of the fifth group of the station after its rehabilitation will allow generating 200 megawatts to provide electricity to the province of Aleppo. The Syrian army regained control of the station in 2016 after fighting ISIS, which took over the station in 2014. In February 2021, the General Electricity Company in Aleppo announced the start of a project to rehabilitate it with Iranian support. In September 2017, Damascus and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding on “cooperation in the electricity sector”, which includes, in addition to the restoration of the Aleppo station, the construction of a power plant in Latakia, as well as the maintenance and rehabilitation of electricity sectors in other regions. Assad’s visit to Aleppo came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly threatened to launch a new military operation in the north of the province in areas under the control of Kurdish forces.