Iraq
Iraqi security forces walk on the Iraqi side of the border-crossing between al-Qaim in Iraq and al-Bukamal in Syria, on September 30, 2019. Photo: AFP
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The preparations for reopening the main crossing connecting Iraq with Syria have been completed and officials are awaiting a Baghdad decision to reopen the crossing, the mayor of a border district said on Sunday.
“All preparations for the opening of the border crossing have been completed and the Syrian side is also ready,” Turki Muhammad Khalaf, district mayor of al-Qaim on the Iraq-Syria border, told Rudaw.
Al-Qaim district, in Iraq’s western Anbar province, is adjacent to al-Bukamal in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province.
The border crossing was last temporarily reopened to allow nearly 2,000 soldiers of Bashar al-Assad’s regime to return on December 19.
On Tuesday, Syrian Transportation Minister Bahaa al-Din Sharm told Rudaw that Damascus is working on reopening the border crossing.
A coalition of rebel groups spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched an offensive against Assad’s regime in late November, toppling the regime on December 8. Thousands of Syrian soldiers sought refuge in neighboring Iraq.
During the escalation of the conflict between the HTS and the Syrian regime, thousands of soldiers from the Iraqi armed forces, including the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), along with border police, were deployed along the Iraqi-Syrian border in Anbar province. Iraq feared that the developments in the neighboring country could negatively affect its security.
“All preparations for the opening of the border crossing have been completed and the Syrian side is also ready,” Turki Muhammad Khalaf, district mayor of al-Qaim on the Iraq-Syria border, told Rudaw.
Al-Qaim district, in Iraq’s western Anbar province, is adjacent to al-Bukamal in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province.
The border crossing was last temporarily reopened to allow nearly 2,000 soldiers of Bashar al-Assad’s regime to return on December 19.
On Tuesday, Syrian Transportation Minister Bahaa al-Din Sharm told Rudaw that Damascus is working on reopening the border crossing.
A coalition of rebel groups spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched an offensive against Assad’s regime in late November, toppling the regime on December 8. Thousands of Syrian soldiers sought refuge in neighboring Iraq.
During the escalation of the conflict between the HTS and the Syrian regime, thousands of soldiers from the Iraqi armed forces, including the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), along with border police, were deployed along the Iraqi-Syrian border in Anbar province. Iraq feared that the developments in the neighboring country could negatively affect its security.
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