Syrian state media say government forces have recaptured the only road linking the northern city of Aleppo to central Syria.
State television reported on November 4 that army units "gained full control of the Aleppo-Khanasser-Ithriya-Al-Salmiyeh road" after battling Islamic State (IS) fighters.
It said the road would reopen to civilian traffic from November 5.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces were fighting IS militants 10 kilometers east of the road in an attempt to ensure it was fully secure.
Control of Aleppo, Syria's largest city before the war, is divided between the government and non-IS rebels.
But an assault by IS fighters had left government-held areas of the city cut off from the rest of the country for 12 days.
