Iraq is preparing to reopen the al-Waleed border crossing with Syria, which faces the al-Tanf crossing on the Syrian side in Homs province (central Syria, on the border with Iraq), after more than a decade of closure.
The head of the Security Committee in Anbar’s Provincial Council, Saad Ghazi, told the Rudaw agency on Friday, 5 December, that work has begun at the al-Waleed crossing in preparation for its reopening, after it was shut down during the war against the Islamic State group in 2014.
According to the subdistrict governor (qa’im maqam) of al-Waleed, Mujahid al-Dulaimi, speaking to Rudaw, the rehabilitation of the crossing is expected to take about four months before it is ready to reopen to civilian traffic.
He said the necessary work includes clearing rubble and rebuilding government facilities that were destroyed during military operations against the Islamic State.
On 18 June, the General Authority for Land and Sea Ports in Syria announced that it would begin construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation work at the al-Tanf border crossing with Iraq.
At the time, the Authority’s head of public relations, Mazen Alloush, told Enab Baladi that the necessary designs for the work had been completed and that the crossing would be brought into service in the coming months, once ready.
The two countries are connected by three official border crossings, namely the al-Yarubiyah crossing (known as Rabia on the Iraqi side) in al-Hasakah province (northeastern Syria), the al-Bukamal crossing in Deir Ezzor province (eastern Syria, on the border with Iraq), known as al-Qaem on the Iraqi side, in addition to the al-Tanf crossing, which faces al-Waleed.
Reopening al-Bukamal crossing
On 12 June, the General Authority for Land and Sea Ports announced the reopening of the al-Bukamal border crossing with Iraq.
In a statement published on its Facebook page, the Authority said it had reopened the al-Bukamal border crossing with Iraq to the movement of passengers and trucks as of 14 June.
It affirmed the readiness of its staff and all service facilities at the crossing, calling on passengers and truck drivers to comply with the approved procedures and instructions to ensure smooth traffic and safe passage.
In a statement on X, Mazen Alloush said that the reopening of the crossing was completed thanks to joint efforts and continuous coordination between the Syrian and Iraqi sides, adding that this came after all technical and administrative arrangements were finalized to ensure smooth movement and provide the best services for passengers and cargo.
Security wall on the Syrian border
Iraq’s Border Guard Command has completed around 350 kilometers of the concrete security wall along the Iraqi Syrian border, while continuing work to close all remaining gaps in order to prevent infiltration and smuggling between the two countries.
Work on the border fortifications began in 2022 along a border strip of more than 618 kilometers, according to the Command’s statement to the Iraqi News Agency (INA) on 22 November.
The concrete wall is reinforced by a multi layer barrier system that includes a trench three meters wide and three meters deep, an earthen berm three meters high, a four layer concertina wire barrier, and a metal BRC fence, the Border Guard Command explained.
The wall also features watchtowers spaced one kilometer apart, equipped with advanced thermal cameras linked to a central monitoring system.
According to the Iraqi Command, border fortification does not rely solely on the concrete wall, but is part of an integrated defensive network that includes trenches, barbed wire, early warning systems, as well as high resolution thermal cameras and day and night surveillance devices operating around the clock.
Iraq prepares to reopen al-Waleed crossing with Syria Enab Baladi.
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