RABI'AH, Iraq — Iraq reopened a once-bustling border crossing with Syria on Monday, more than a decade after it was closed to trade following the rise of the Daesh terror group.

 

With the Al Rabia post -- known as Al Yarubiyah on the Syrian side -- back in operation, all three border crossings between Iraq and Syria are now open.

 

Border Ports Authority chief Omar Al Waeli told journalists during the reopening ceremony that Al Rabia "is a strategic border port" that had been shut for almost 13 years.

 

He added that the crossing "will play an important role on the Development Road", a mega-project aimed at providing a link between Asia and Europe via upgraded rail and road infrastructure through Iraq and Turkey.

 

Previously a major trade route between the two countries, the Al Rabia crossing in Nineveh province closed after the emergence of the Islamic State group, which seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq in a lightning offensive in 2014.

 

Although the extremists were later defeated, the border crossing remained closed and was only briefly used to deliver aid into war-torn Syria.

 

Until earlier this year, Kurdish forces controlled the post on the Syrian side, before handing it over to the Syrian authorities, who overthrew former ruler Bashar Al Assad in December 2024.