Iraq reopens border crossing with Syria shut for nearly 13 years

RABI’AH, (Iraq): Iraq reopened a once-bustling border crossing with Syria on Monday, more than a decade after it was closed to trade following the rise of the Islamic State group.

With the al-Rabia post — known as al-Yarubiyah on the Syrian side — back in operation, all three border crossings between Iraq and Syria are now open.

Border Ports Authority chief Omar Al-Waeli told journalists during the reopening ceremony that al-Rabia “is a strategic border port” that had been shut for almost 13 years. He added that the crossing “will play an important role on the Development Road”, a mega-project aimed at providing a link between Asia and Europe via upgraded rail and road infrastructure through Iraq and Turkey.

Previously a major trade route between the two countries, the al-Rabia crossing in Nineveh province closed after the emergence of the Islamic State group, which seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq in a lightning offensive in 2014.