Syrian government opens crossing with AANES areas
TABQA, Syria (North Press) – On Monday, the Syrian government opened a crossing linking it with the Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria (AANES) areas, for people move.
The Syrian government has opened the crossing for all residents to go to the government-held areas, an official at Albou Assi crossing in the city of Tabqa, who preferred not to be named, told North Press.
He added that the crossing has witnessed a crowded population traffic since this morning.
Al-Tayha crossing in Manbij, al-Tabqa crossing, and al-Akirshi crossing in Raqqa are the three crossings linking the government-held areas with the AANES-held areas.
Since June 24, the Syrian government checkpoints have prevented Kurdish travelers from going to its areas of control, according to testimonies of travelers who were prevented from completing the journey.
Since March 21, the Syrian government has imposed restrictions on the movement of civilians and trade in three crossings linking its areas with the AANES-held areas.
The movement was limited to allowing only humanitarian cases, students and government employees to cross.
During the closure of the crossing, Muhammad Subhi, 35, a driver working between the Autonomous Administration and the Syrian government areas, was prevented from entering the Syrian government-held areas, “because some of the passengers were Kurds,” according to the driver.
Some patients had to travel to the city of Qamishli for treatment despite with the dangerousness of Raqqa-Hasakah road, he told North Press.
The recent incidents of targeting civilians by unknown gunmen on Raqqa-Hasakah road known as Abyad Road have raised fears for travelers and drivers to cross the road, as the checkpoints of the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) do not cover all the road.
“Some of the Kurdish students from Kobani ,who study at Aleppo universities, could not take the exam yesterday, because they were prevented from going to the government-held areas,” Subhi added.