The first official border crossing between Syria and Iraq to be reopened in less than a month
Northeastern Syria – North-Press Agency
The Syrian government intends to reopen Al-Bukamal border crossing that links the governorate of Deir ez-Zor north-east of Syria with the Iraqi territories as the first official crossing between the two countries will be back to work.
A Lebanese newspaper has quoted what it called “Syrian diplomatic sources” as saying that Al-Bukamal–Al-Qaim border crossing would be reopened in less than a month, referring to efforts by the two sides to reactivate it after years of closure as a result of the control of Islamic state.
The same sources indicated the reopening of the border crossing only at the moment, pointing out that this decision is a result of the tripartite military meeting between the leaders of Iran, Syria, and Iraq last March 2019, which stressed on the reconstruction of land links among the three countries.
Iraqi sources had also confirmed to the newspaper that the Iraqi government is working to complete the steps of reopening the border crossing by paving the roads and repairing the crossing to reactivate it to the movement of people and goods, stressing that the obstacles to complete the process are still “logistics”.
The efforts come at a time where the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi fears “The security threats posed by the terrorists’ movement and the activity of ISIS sleeper cells on both sides of the borders.”
The Islamic State took control over the area and the border crossing back in mid-2014, which is one of the three most important border crossings with the Iraqi side (Al-Bukamal, Al-Yarubiyah, and Al-Tanf).
While the Syrian government lost control of the crossing for the Syrian opposition armed groups in July 2012.
the last April, Al-Bukamal border crossing witnessed the entrance of two Iraqi buses to Syria for the first time after five years of closure, according to media sources loyal to the Syrian government.
The Iraqi border guards also confirmed at that time, that two buses of Iraqi visitors headed to the shrine of Sayyida Zeinab in Damascus, the capital, noting that “the step is an initial or experimental procedure to officially reopen the land borders between the two countries.”