New crossing aims to restore Aleppo’s economic status
Civilians and traders in northern Syria hope commercial activities will resume there now that the Abu al-Zandeen crossing is open, linking regime-controlled territory to Turkish-backed opposition areas for the first time.
AL-BAB, Syria — Vehicles have regained access to the highway linking the city of Aleppo, Syria’s economic capital, to opposition-controlled al-Bab in northern Aleppo province.
The regime has controlled all of Aleppo city since December 2016, while the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) controls al-Bab.
This highway linked Aleppo city to the province's northeast, but it had been blocked since July 2014 when the surrounding area became a frontline between the opposition and the regime — especially after the latter took control in July 2014 of the industrial city of Sheikh Najjar.
On March 18, both the regime and the SNA agreed to open the commercial and civilian crossing — dubbed Abu al-Zandeen — on the Aleppo-al-Bab highway. Details of the agreement have yet to be made public.
