Iraq announces 24-hour closure of airports, border crossings on election day

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq announced on Wednesday that it would close its airports and border crossings for 24 hours on May 12, the day of the anticipated parliamentary elections.

The Iraqi Border Ports Authority said it would close border crossings and airports as part of security measures in place on the day of elections.

A brief statement by the Authority said the 24-hour curfew would go into effect from midnight on Friday and last the entire day on Saturday.

The decision was approved by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, according to Iraqi news agency Baghdad Today.

“The committee formed by the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Haider al-Abadi, issued an order to close ports and airports during the day of parliamentary elections,” an unnamed source was quoted by the news agency.

As the elections approach, the Islamic State (IS) has issued warnings claiming its militants would target polling stations across Iraq.

In an audiotape released in April, IS extremists said “all those who support or participate in the elections” would be a target. The extremist group stated it would strike polling stations and told Sunni Iraqis to stay clear of the polls or risk being killed.

Kurdistan 24 was unable to verify the authenticity of the message but IS often publishes its recordings on unregulated platforms on the internet.

The upcoming Iraqi elections will be the first since the group’s military defeat was announced in December 2017.

Over 7,000 candidates representing different parties, including those from the Kurdistan Region, are competing to fill 329 seats in the Iraqi Parliament.