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Kurdish crisis imperils US anti-terror fight in Syria

The dispute between Baghdad and Erbil threatens a key border crossing used to resupply US-backed troops battling the Islamic State in Syria.
TOPSHOT - A picture taken on October 26, 2017 shows rockets being launched from Iraqi security forces' against Kurdish Peshmerga positions in the area of Faysh Khabur, which is located on the Turkish and Syrian borders in the Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region. / AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE        (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

The Donald Trump administration is pushing to keep open a disputed crossing on the border of Iraq and Syria crucial to the fight against the Islamic State (IS) amid a military standoff stemming from last month's independence vote in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Kurdish officials in the semi-autonomous Rojava region had threatened over the weekend to close the three-way crossing at Fish Khabur that joins Iraq, Syria and Turkey. They say the western side of the border has come under threat from mortar fire from nearby Iraqi troops as they advance toward Kurdish-held areas.

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