DAMASCUS (Sputnik) — The Syrian transport infrastructure sustained losses amounting to more than $4.5 billion over six years of civil war, the country's Transport Minister Ali Hammoud told Sputnik in an interview.
"The total sum of damages that the Ministry of Transport and related structures have sustained since the beginning of war and up to the present is estimated at $4,567 billion," Hammoud said.
Hammoud also said that Syria had lost more than two-thirds of its railways due to the destructive actions of terrorist groups, and seen a dramatic decrease in the number of marine transport operations.
"Concerning the railway network, whose length amounted to 2,450 kilometers [over 1,500 miles], terrorists destroyed 17 bridges. Almost 1,800 kilometers are almost fully destroyed, which had a negative impact on railway cargo traffic," Hammoud said.
He then noted the decline in sea transportation, adding also that the volume of goods delivered to Syria by sea has decreased from 24 million to 9 million tonnes.
"The number of ships accepted by Syrian ports reduced from 4,614 per year before the war to 1,554 ships per year during the war," Hammoud said.
Syria has been been in a state of civil war since 2011 with government forces fighting against Syrian opposition groups aiming to overthrow President Bashar Assad, and numerous extremist and terrorist groups such as Daesh, outlawed in Russia.
