Al-Waleed border crossing [1]منفذ الوليد الحدودي | |
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| Coordinates | 33°26′02″N38°55′30″E / 33.434°N 38.925°E /33.434; 38.925 |
| Crosses | Iraq–Syria border |
| Locale | Al-Waleed |
| Maintained by |  Republic of Iraq |
| Location | |
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Al-Waleed border crossing (Arabic:منفذ الوليد الحدودي,romanized: Menfath al-Waleed al-Hudoodi) is one of three official border crossings betweenIraq andSyria.[2] It is located in theAr-Rutba District of theAl-Anbar Governorate in western Iraq, close to the northeasternmost point ofJordan in theSyrian Desert. It serves as the main border checkpoint on the highway betweenDamascus andBaghdad. The al-Waleed checkpoint is close toal-Tanf on the Syrian side of the border in theHoms Governorate.[3] TheAl-Waleed Palestinian refugee camp is nearby.
In May 2015, theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants captured the checkpoint, thus obtaining control over the full length of the Iraq–Syria border. In early August 2016, the Iraqi checkpoint was recaptured by pro-government Iraqi tribal militias backed by theU.S.-led forces.[4][5] In August 2016, theBBC published photographs taken in June that year,[6] which it said showed British special forces soldiers apparently guarding the perimeter of theNew Syrian Army's base, at al-Waleed in Syria'sHoms province.
In March 2017, U.S.-backedMaghawir al-Thawra rebels re-opened the border point, resuming cross-border civilian traffic; a group referred to as Jaish al-Ashair al-Iraqi was said to control the Iraqi side of the crossing.[7] In April 2017, the U.S. "special forces" outpost at al-Waleed was reported to be engaged in combat.[8][9] On 18 May 2017,U.S.-led coalition fighter jets struck a convoy of pro-Syrian government forces advancing towards the Tanf base, where the U.S. military operated and trained anti-government rebels.[10][11] The Syrian forces appeared to use advanced Russia-made arms and were supported by Russian helicopters, a report acknowledged on May 26 by theRussian Defence ministry'smedia outlet.[12]
On 17 June 2017, theIraqi military announced that the Iraqi army and Sunni tribal fighters, supported by U.S.-led coalition aircraft, had dislodged ISIL from the al-Waleed border crossing.[13]
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