DEIR AL-ZOUR, Syria, Oct 1 (NNN-SANA) – Under the victory banner, the Bukamal-Qaim border crossing, between Syria and Iraq was reopened on Monday, the first time since its closure in 2014, when the Daesh militants captured areas on both sides of the border.
Reporters at the site witnessed the reopening of that key border crossing, which connects the town of Al-Bukamal in Syria’s eastern province of Deir al-Zour to the city of Husaybah in the Al-Qaim District of Iraq.
At the fence, separating Syria and Iraq, Iraqi and Syrian flags were hoisted with a banner reading “the reopening of the Bukamal-Qaim border crossing is a declaration of victory by the Syrian and Iraqi brothers.
Kazem Al-Aqabi, head of the Iraqi border crossing authority, as well as, Syria’s Interior Minister, Mohammad Rahmoun, inaugurated the reopening.
Rahmoun told reporters that, the crossing is crucial for trade movement and personal travel between Syria and Iraq, which bears social, political and economic value for both countries.
For his side, Al-Aqabi said, mutual meetings between Iraqi and Syrian officials should take place, to organise the work at the crossing.
“Travel and goods movement will start today (yesterday) and we invite our brothers in Syria to hold mutual meetings to regulate the procedure of granting entry visas for both countries and to organise the process of trade exchange and the trucks movement from Syria to Iraq and vice versa, in a way that preserves the rights of both countries,” he said.
The crossing is one of three major border crossings shared between Iraq and Syria and is considered one of the major supply routes across the Middle East.
The Syrian-Iraqi border points were all closed when the Daesh captured areas on both sides of the borders between 2013 and 2014.
In 2017, Iraqi forces captured the Al-Qaim area and the Syrian army captured the al-Bukamal.
The border crossing is crucial also politically and militarily, as it links Iran with the Mediterranean through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.– NNN-SANA