Iraq News Now

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 Islamic State (IS) militants captured areas on both sides of the border.

Xinhua 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’s Anbar governorate.

At the fence separating the Syrian and Iraqi territory, 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 against the takfiri terrorism.”

Kazem Al-Aqabi, head of the Iraqi border crossing authority, as well as Syria’s Interior Minister Mohammad Rahmoun, inaugurated the border reopening ceremony.

Rahmoun told reporters during the ceremony that the crossing was crucial for trade movement and personal travel between Syria and Iraq, which bears social, political and economic value for both countries.

Travel and visas for both countries and to organize 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.