"[1] It connects the border with Jordan in the south with Damascus, the country's political capital, and continues further north through Aleppo, the country's economic capital and second largest city, to the border with Turkey in the north.

[1][2] Other cities connected by this motorway are Daraa, Al Nabk, Homs and Hama.

[1] It intersects with the M4 Motorway near Saraqib, which is the main highway from Aleppo to the port of Latakia running parallel to the border with Turkey.

[2][3] In October 2019, the north of the highway became a warzone, as Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces advanced into the Kurdish-controlled region of Rojava.

[10] On 28 November 2024, the M5 highway was cut off during the Northwestern Syria offensive by opposition groups.