Semalka Border Crossing to Operate Seven Days a Week

ARK News.. The Pishabour–Semalka border crossing will begin receiving travelers and handling commercial traffic seven days a week, including Fridays, starting Friday, November 6, 2026. Operating hours will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to Shawkat Barbuhari, director of the Pishabour crossing.

In an exclusive statement to Welat TV on Thursday, November 5, Barbuhari said a decision announced earlier would take effect tomorrow, Friday. He noted that the crossing would continue providing services to travelers and facilitating commercial exchanges without a weekly closure.

Under the decision, Friday will no longer be a weekly day off at the crossing, and passenger and commercial traffic will continue during the day under the same operating hours as the rest of the week.

Earlier Decision Had Not Been Implemented

In late September, the Syrian General Authority for Border Crossings and Customs announced that the Semalka crossing would operate seven days a week starting October 1, 2026. However, the decision was not implemented in practice on the scheduled date.

Mazen Alloush, the authority’s director of relations, told Welat TV in a statement on September 23, 2026, that the decision covered both passenger traffic and commercial exchanges and aimed to ensure uninterrupted border services amid increased movement of goods and travelers through the crossing.

Alloush said at the time that operating throughout the week would speed up the processing of transactions, reduce waiting times, and facilitate the transportation of goods and the movement of travelers by ensuring the continuous availability of customs and administrative services.

He added that the authority was working to develop the operational infrastructure of border crossings and improve the services they provide, in a move intended to support trade and strengthen economic ties with neighboring countries.

Semalka Border Crossing

The Semalka crossing connects the Kurdistan Region and Syria across the Tigris River. It is located in Syria’s Hasakah Governorate, opposite the Pishabour crossing in Duhok Governorate in the Kurdistan Region. It opened in 2013 for humanitarian purposes following the developments triggered by the Syrian uprising that began in 2011.

The Syrian government officially took over the Semalka crossing from the dissolved Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on April 16, 2026, incorporating it into the centralized administration of the General Authority for Border Crossings and Customs.


Semalka crossingShawkat BarbuhariFriday

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