Kuwait reopens Abdali border crossing with Iraq after drone attack

BASRA — Kuwait reopened the Abdali border crossing with Iraq on Sunday morning, restoring passenger and commercial traffic three days after drone strikes damaged the facility, an official told Kuwait’s state news agency.

Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks Thursday as aggression by “Iran and its proxies”, describing them as a violation of Kuwaiti sovereignty and a breach of international law and the U.N. Charter, according to Kuwait Times. It is the first attribution of the attack to a named party; no group had claimed it.

Kuwait’s Defense Ministry reported material damage and no casualties. The crossing was struck twice on Thursday.

Specialized teams secured the site and cleared drone debris.

Interior Minister Fahad Yusuf Saud Al Sabah had said Saturday the crossing would reopen within 48 hours and that the damage would not stop movement between the two countries. Speaking at Iraq’s Safwan crossing, opposite Abdali, after meeting Basra Gov. Asaad al-Eidani, he said it would again receive Iraqi travelers and let Kuwaitis enter Iraq for the Arbaeen pilgrimage. Both men rejected what they cast as attempts to strain relations between the neighbors, and Eidani said the two governments were cooperating on regional stability.

The Iraqi side was not affected, and an Iraqi security source said conditions at Safwan remained stable after the explosions in Kuwait.

Abdali is the main land route between southern Iraq and Kuwait and is carrying Gulf pilgrims traveling to Karbala for Arbaeen, which falls on the 40th day after Ashura, marking the killing of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in 680.