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SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region - The border crossing connecting the Kurdistan Region to the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) is set to reopen for trade twice a week starting Monday, an informed source within the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) told Rudaw English on Sunday.
The opening of the Semalka-Fishkhabour border crossing comes more than a month after it was closed down, however the opening will only be for trade purposes.
“The opening of the border will only be for trade purposes starting Monday and it will only be open twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays,” the source said, adding that the border was never closed to humanitarian aid and organizations.
The crossing was closed again in late December following tensions and clashes between the border guards and members of the Revolutionary Youth Movement.
However Rudaw understands that the border was reopened following back and forth US mediation with the KRG.
Home to hundreds of thousands of displaced people, Rojava has depended on the Semalka border crossing for aid deliveries.
The border was closed by the KRG due to political rifts with the ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Rojava, but it was opened in 2016 in order to allow humanitarian goods, medicine, and food across.
The opening also comes as security deescalates on the other side of the border with the Islamic State (ISIS) launching an audacious and sophisticated attack on the al-Sina'a prison in Hasaka’s Ghweran neighborhood in Rojava, known to locals as Ghweran prison.
Hundreds of ISIS militants snuck into the neighborhood surrounding the prison and attacked the facility where thousands of its members and affiliates are held. The offense led to clashes between the terror group and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
More than 175 ISIS members and 27 soldiers have been killed in the fight so far, the SDF announced late Sunday.
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