© Sergey Bobylev/TASS
The Syrian government is now able to deliver humanitarian aid, using a railroad segment that has been restored by Russian forces.
On November 13, the Syrian government sent the first locomotive via a restored 65km stretch of track between the port of Tartus to the sea town of Jableh in the province of Latakia.
“Humanitarian cargo weighing 27 tons arrived by sea. It was loaded onto railway transport and will be delivered to Jableh, where it will be distributed locally among Syrians who are most affected by the fighting,” Colonel Aleksandr Gubanov, spokesman for the Russian center for reconciliation of opposing sides in Syria, said in a statement.
The restoration of the first section of the railroad network became possible after Russian specialists “set up loading and unloading stations and picked [intact] cars to carry both humanitarian cargo and construction materials” along the Tartus-Jableh stretch.
“We look forward to the resumption of rail services and to further cooperation with the Syrian side,” Gubanov added.
