Turkey's official Anadolu Agency reported that Turkish and Iraqi military units, which have been conducting joint drills since Sept. 18, have left their barracks and moved towards the Iraqi side of the border.
Doğan News Agency reported that that the border gate will be handed over to Baghdad in a ceremony with the attendance of Iraqi chief of the military staff and commander of Turkey's Second Army, which is in charge of guarding the country's southern and eastern borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran.
The border gate, which is located across the border from southeastern Turkey's Habur Customs Gate in Silopi district of Şırnak province, is of crucial importance for the bilateral trade between the two countries, including oil imports with tankers. The Kirkuk - Ceyhan oil pipeline connecting northern Iraqi oil fiels with Turkish oil terminal in the Mediterranean also passes west of the border crossing before entering Turkey.
Following the controversial independence referendum in the KRG and disputed regions with Baghdad on Sept. 25, Iraqi forces and allied predominantly Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) moved to force the KRG out of the disputed areas, which include oil-rich city of Kirkuk, the town of Khanaqin near the border with Iran and Sinjar near the border with Syria.
Baghdad also demanded Irbil to hand the control of all airports and customs gates, including Ibrahim Khalil.
Amid heavy pressure from the international community on Iraq's neighbors, the KRG retreated from contested areas without significant resistance. However, Iraqi forces and KRG peshmerga units have been involved in clashes in the strategic area located northwest of Mosul, upstream of the Mosul Dam Lake on the Tigris River, which had been providing the KRG with connection to Syria and control over Iraq's connection to Turkey.
With the Turkish and Iraqi move, the supply line between the KRG and northeastern Syria, which is under control of PKK terror group's Syrian wing Democratic Union Party (PYD) will also be cut.