Iraq’s Erbil-Makhmour road reopens after 6-month hiatus

ERBIL (AA) - A main highway linking Erbil, the administrative capital of northern Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), and Mosul’s Makhmour district was reopened Monday following a six-month closure.

Makhmour District Governor Rizgar Mohamed told Anadolu Agency that the road had been reopened to two-way traffic after Peshmerga forces loyal to the KRG had reached an agreement with Iraqi Federal Police forces stationed in the district.

What’s more, Mohamed said, Kurdish civil servants who had left Makhmour due to recent tensions between Baghdad and Erbil would soon return to work.

The Erbil-Makhmour road was closed late last year after clashes between Peshmerga and pro-government forces following the KRG’s ill-fated referendum on Kurdish regional independence.

Following the Sept. 25 poll, federal forces seized control of several parts of Iraq “disputed” between Baghdad and Erbil and imposed an international flight ban on the Kurdish region.