Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has visited Aleppo for the first time since liberation of the northwestern province from grip of Takfiri terrorist groups to inaugurate economic projects in the region.

Syria's official news agency SANA said Assad visited the Aleppo Thermal Power Station on Friday to launch the operation of the fifth unit of the station after its rehabilitation. It is expected to generate 200 megawatts to supply the province with the needed electricity.

The Syrian president was also reported to have been briefed on the ongoing rehabilitation work in the other units, which would be put into service after the completion of the repair and reconstruction work.

“President al-Assad described the station’s staff as the sons of the field, expressed to them pride in their efforts, dedication, and sincerity, and said that Aleppo governorate has suffered more due to terrorism and sabotage than other provinces, and therefore the people of Aleppo have the right to be the biggest beneficiary of the station’s reform,” the news agency said.

“President al-Assad said that the workers of Syria are the second line on the front that rebuild what has been destroyed by terrorism,” the agency said. “The rehabilitation and restoration works at the Aleppo Thermal Power Station give one message that all obstacles and difficulties fall before the will and determination.”

The Syrian province was liberated from the clutch of foreign-backed terrorists in 2016, but the government-held parts of Syria still endure more than 12 hours of power cuts a day as production is far less than the needs of the country due to the destroyed infrastructure.

The Syrian leader also inaugurated the Tal Hasel water pumping plant in the Aleppo countryside on Friday. The plant was reported by SANA to irrigate some 8,500 hectares of farmland in Aleppo’s southern plains and revive the Queiq River running through several neighborhoods in Aleppo city.

“President al-Assad stressed the importance of rehabilitating the entire engines of the plant, as it is an important part of the irrigation system in the agricultural plains of Aleppo, and underlined the need for a speedy rehabilitation of the remaining two engines of the plant to irrigate larger areas of agricultural land while continuing to supply factories and workshops in Sheikh Najjar industrial city with sufficient quantities of water,” the agency said.

The Syrian leader had inaugurated the plant in 2008 as part of a large national project to irrigate the agricultural plains of Aleppo, but it went out of service in 2012 after the occupation of the area by terrorist groups, which completely destroyed the plant.

The United States and its European Union allies have imposed tough sanctions on Syria since the militant groups they long sponsored in their attempts to overthrow the government of President Assad failed to achieve the objectives on the battleground.