Repair Teams Arrive in Wadi Barada after Deal Reached between Damascus, Terrorists
DAMASCUS (Tasnim) – Maintenance teams arrived in Wadi Barada near Damascus on Saturday to begin work on restoring the capital's water supply after a temporary ceasefire was agreed by the government and Takfiri terrorists.
According to Tasnim dispatches, the Syrian government and terrorist groups on Saturday reached a truce deal whereby the militants will be allowed to leave Damascus unharmed and move to the northwestern Idlib province.
Following the ceasefire agreement, repair teams arrived in Wadi Barada valley late in the morning to begin repair work.
Millions of people have been without water for weeks after the terrorists damaged key infrastructure in the Wadi Barada region that is the main water source for Damascus.
The al-Fija spring which supplies Damascus with water is in the militant-held Wadi Barada valley northwest of the capital in a mountainous area near the Lebanese border.
The report added that Syrian armed forces have also been deployed to the area to fortify their positions and defuse improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mines left behind by terrorists.
Each neighborhood in Damascus reportedly gets water for about two hours a day and bottled water prices have increased dramatically in the free market.
The terrorists in Wadi Barada have cut water supplies several times in the past to prevent the Syrian army from recapturing the area.
Last week, the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Local Administration ordered authorities in the provinces of Rif Dimashq and Damascus to start using water reserves until the problem was resolved.
Syria has been the scene of a foreign-backed crisis since early 2011.
According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.
