According to the Spanish news agency EFE, which cites the governor of Damascus, Tareq Krishati, this is the "first strategic project" in more than a decade of war and is part of "the reconstruction process" of Syria, devastated by a conflict that broke out in 2011, following anti-government protests. The so-called "Mowasat" project, west of the city of Damascus, the capital of Syria, consists of the construction of a 525-meter long and 16.5-meter wide tunnel, with four traffic lanes, as well as the rehabilitation of adjacent areas and a square with several gardens, a work that represents an investment of about 70 million Syrian pounds (about five million euros). According to the governor of Damascus, the project was developed thanks to the revenue generated by the province and the work of about a thousand employees, who worked on these works for 11 months. The inauguration of this project was made by the Prime Minister of Syria, Hussein Arnous, generating great expectation, since it is being understood as a sign that the country is returning to normality, after years of devastation. The United Nations estimates that the reconstruction of Syria amounts to about 450 billion dollars (420 billion euros). The war, which killed almost half a million people and displaced half of the 23 million citizens who made up the country's population before the conflict, began as peaceful protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011. The protests - part of the popular uprisings of the Arab Spring that spread throughout much of the Middle East that year - were met with brutal repression, and the revolt quickly turned into a full-blown civil war, which was further reinforced by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides of the conflict. The conflict was also complicated by growing militancy, first by groups linked to al-Qaeda and then by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) until its defeat in 2019. Read Also: Iraq advances with the repatriation of 750 family members of jihadists (Portuguese version)