M4 highway returns to work after suspension for more than a month
TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press) – On Saturday, the M4 highway linking the town of Tel Tamer and the city of Ain Issa in northeastern Syria witnessed the return of traffic for civilians and commercial convoys after a closure that lasted for more than a month.
The M4 road was closed as the Turkish army and its affiliated armed opposition groups launched continuous attacks on the vicinity of the town of Ain Issa, north of Raqqa.
Russian military police armored vehicles escorted the convoy, which included dozens of commercial trucks and civilian cars, to ensure that they were traveling on the road.
The highway was reopened in May 2020, after long talks between the Turkish and Russian parties to allow civilians to cross from Tel Tamr to Ain Issa with Russian guarantees, according to Pavel Igorian, the Russian officer at the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria, in a previous statement to North Press.
Residents had been using Abyad road, which contains large potholes in addition to the long distance, as an alternative to the M4 highway since the armed groups took control of parts of it in October of 2019.
Civilians accompanying the convoy told North Press that the re-opening of the M4 shortened them great distances, as it took more than six hours to reach from Ain Issa to the city of Hasakah.
The M4 is the most important economic route for northeastern Syria.