KRG, Baghdad discuss reopening Kirkuk-Erbil road; bridge to be rebuilt soon

Erbil (Kurdistan 24) – Members of a Kurdish delegation say they made leaps to reopen the road connecting Erbil with Kirkuk during a session with a delegation from Baghdad earlier on Tuesday in the office of the governor of Kirkuk Province.

“I believe that most of the work has been done and all that remains will be resolved on Sunday,” representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Baghdad, Farhad Nematulla, told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday, adding that the next meeting would take place in Baghdad.

According to Nematulla, the only disagreements remaining are minor details such as tolls and disputes around the federal government’s desire to place an extra checkpoint along the road.

The Kurdistan delegation included KRG representative to Baghdad Nematulla, representative of the Ministry of the Interior headed by General-Director of Erbil Police, Abdulkhaliq Talaat, General-Director of the Directory of Highway and Reconstruction of Kurdistan Region, Honar Nouri, and Representative of the Peshmerga forces in Perde subdistrict, Salar Taimour.

The delegation from Baghdad was to represent the Ministry of Interior, among them the federal police and Iraqi military, from their side and the Council of Ministers but was joined later by the current governor of Kirkuk Province, Rakan Saeed.

During the presser, Nouri stated that in the meeting they had presented a damage-report on the bridge that lies on the road and was destroyed following clashes in October between the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces, who were aided by the Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi.

Reconstruction of the bridge requires one billion dinars ($838,000) based on the Ministry’s assessment.

The KRG has expressed its readiness to implement the first quick stage of rebuilding the bridge, emphasizing that a thorough project would be needed to make the crossing completely functional.

“The bridge is set to be reconstructed in two stages; first, to quickly make operational only one side [of the bridge] in 20-30 days, and second, to rebuild the whole bridge in coordination with the federal government,” Talaat told reporters during the presser.

The road has been closed since Iraqi forces, and Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militias overran Kirkuk on Oct. 16 driving Kurdish troops from the region.

The move was a military response from Baghdad against the Kurdistan Region’s historic independence referendum in September.

The road is not just a strategic route between the two cities but is a primary means for Iraqi and Kurdish travelers coming from other provinces in the south and north and vice versa.

“The Peshmerga forces will not be making any concessions. We will stand firm in our place,” Taimour told of the Kurdish forces.

“The reopening of the road is very important to both sides,” Talaat highlighted.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany