Bridge connecting Erbil and Kirkuk reopens after 10-month halt

Bridge connecting Erbil and Kirkuk reopens after 10-month halt
August 20, 2018 - 10:24 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - A bridge connecting provinces Erbil and Kirkuk in Iraqi Kurdistan was reopened on Sunday, August 19 after being closed for 10 months, Al-Masdar News reports.

The bridge was closed following clashes between Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.

The two checkpoints on the bridge are reportedly controlled by both Iraqi and Peshmerga forces, each side in charge of its own one.

Iraqi Commander of Federal Police headquarters Shaker Quinn said that the timing for cargo vehicles to use the road will be set separately from other vehicles.

Tensions between Peshmerga fighters and Iraqi forces rose since Iraqi Kurds overwhelmingly voted for secession in a September 25 referendum that Baghdad rejected as illegal.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces took control of oil-rich Kirkuk after the Iraqi army fled a major offensive by the Islamic State in 2014.

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Al-Masdar News. Bridge connecting Erbil and Kirkuk reopens after 10-month halt
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