Iraq reopens border crossing with Syria shut for nearly 13 years

AFP| Rabi'ah

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Iraq reopened a once-bustling border crossing with Syria yesterday, 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.

Although the jihadists were later defeated, the border crossing remained closed and was only briefly used to deliver aid into war-torn Syria.

Until earlier this year, Kurdish forces controlled the post on the Syrian side, before handing it over to the Syrian authorities, who overthrew former ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.