Hundreds of Syrians took a train through battle-scarred east Aleppo on Thursday as services resumed for the first time after four years of fighting, AFP reports.
It was the train’s first such trip since rebels overran east Aleppo in the summer of 2012, effectively dividing the northern city into a regime-held west and a rebel-controlled east.
Syria’s Transport Minister Ali Hamoud said the resumption of train services between the two stations came after “the victory of the heroes of the Syrian army, returning safety and stability to the whole city”.
An inspection uncovered 40 points of damage “from terrorism” along the line, the minister said. The line was reopened after repairs that took less than 20 days, he said in a statement carried by the SANA official news agency.
Head of the public railway company, Najib Faris, announced there would be four trips a day between the Jibreen and Baghdad stations for up to 600 passengers for each trip.
