ALEPPO — The good news is that the Syrian government reopened the crucial M5 highway connecting Damascus and Aleppo to commercial buses and trucks Feb. 22. But regaining control of the route from opposition forces has uprooted about a million people since December — many of them for the third or fourth time.
“Nothing can describe the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the regime forces,” said Mayas Doghaim, who was displaced from the Maarat al-Numan area southeast of Idlib. Doghaim, who works for Al-Hayat University for Medical Sciences, told Al-Monitor, “The regime forces and their allies are the undisputed barbaric invaders of our modern era. People who had a home and a roof over their heads are today homeless, left only with memories in displacement camps.”
Since 2012, the M5 has been controlled by various rebel groups. President Bashar al-Assad's regime started regaining parts of the highway in 2014, but only during the latest offensive was it able to take full control.
Regime forces and armed groups backed by Russia and Iran took over the M5 on Feb. 10 after beating the opposition south and west of the city of Aleppo. On Feb. 15, the regime began repairing the road and by Feb. 22, the Syrian Ministry of Transportation announced the highway was officially open to traffic and "at the full disposal of citizens."
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
