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US diplomacy prompts Iraqi Kurds to allow aid through sealed Syrian border crossing

The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq has agreed to open one crossing between its territory and northeast Syria twice a month for the passage of vital aid.
DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

After more than a month of US mediation the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq has agreed to open a vital crossing between its territory and northeast Syria twice a month for the passage of vital aid, Al-Monitor has learned.

The Fish Khabur/Semalka border crossing was sealed indefinitely by the KRG on Dec. 15 after Iraqi Kurdish border guards clashed with members of the Revolutionary Youth, or Ciwanen Soresger, a youth group that is linked to the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria. The administration operates under the military protection of the United States. Several Iraqi Kurdish border guards were reportedly injured by rocks hurled at them by the youths. The sides blame each other for the start of the violence.

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