ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Baghdad is expected to reopen the Kirkuk-Erbil road from its side on Monday, following the reopening of the road by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) from its side on March 2. There are three Iraqi checkpoints and one Peshmerga checkpoint on the Kirkuk and Erbil borders. All these checkpoints will be removed and a joint checkpoint will be established by Iraqi and Kurdish forces. The Iraqi flag will be hoisted on the checkpoint, according to Rudaw correspondent Hiwa Husamadin in Prde. It is unclear whether or not the Kurdish flag will also be hoisted. The road is open only for passenger vehicles. Trucks must take a secondary road, which passes through Debaga and Makhmur or through Shwan and Taqtaq. The KRG unilaterally reopened all its roads on March 2, and expected the same step from Iraqi government. The road had been closed since Kirkuk was taken by the Iraqi army and Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitaries on October 16. There was a bridge in Prde which connected both provinces, but it was destroyed on October 20 during fighting between Iraqi forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga. The reconstruction of the bridge will cost an estimated 700 million dinars ($588,000), but the Iraqi government has said it will not pay for it.
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