Assad took part in the inauguration of a thermal plant and a water pumping plant in Aleppo, a major city in northern Syria that government forces took back from rebel fighters in late 2016.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday paid his first visit to the country’s economic and industrial hub Aleppo since the outbreak of the country’s war 11 years ago, the state news agency SANA reported.
Assad took part in the inauguration of a thermal plant and a water pumping plant in Aleppo, a major city in northern Syria that the government army took back from rebel fighters in late 2016.
Al-Assad also met with groups of experts, workers, and technicians, and monitored with them the launch of the work of the fifth turbines group of the thermal station after its rehabilitation. The group is expected to generate electric power with a capacity of 200 megawatts, to feed the province of Aleppo.
During his visit to the rehabilitated thermal plant, Assad blamed “western forces led by the United States” for the devastation and destruction of the plant’s facilities. Referring to the reconstruction work, Al-Assad said, “Syria’s workers are the second line on the front, reconstructing what has been destroyed by terrorism, and offering effort, sweat, and martyrs.”
Heavy fighting during the civil war in the country severely damaged Aleppo’s infrastructure, which is still evident in most areas of the city.
