Erbil-Kirkuk Highway Open Now
ARK News: The highway connecting Erbil and Kirkuk has officially been re-opened after more than ten months since it was closed down.
“Fortunately, after several meetings with authorities from Baghdad, today we re-opened the Erbil-Kirkuk road officially,” said Abdulkhaliq Tal’at, Chief of Erbil Police, at a joint press conference on Sunday.
According to the official, a checkpoint has been set on the road where Kurdistan Region security forces and Iraqi Federal Police are both presents.
The highway was closed down at the wake of political and military tensions between Erbil and Baghdad last year in October.
Following Kurdistan’s independence referendum on 25th September 2017, Baghdad took immediate retaliatory measures and imposed a flight ban on the Kurdistan Region.
It was followed by a military operation during which the Iraqi army and Iranian-backed militias of Hashd al-Shaabi overran the Peshmerga positions in Kirkuk and other Kurdish territories disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.
Since then, Erbil-Kirkuk highway was blocked by Baghdad authorities.
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