Jordan and Iraq have reopened their only border crossing after a two-year closure, taking a step toward stabilizing an area devastated by Islamic State group extremists and allowing for a resumption of vital trade.

Iraq closed the crossing after large areas, including the Anbar border province, fell to IS. The militants have since been pushed back in U.S.-backed offensives.

On Wednesday, senior officials from both sides attended an opening ceremony. They did not say when the first trucks would be crossing the border.

The crossing is known in Jordan as Karameh and in Iraq as Turabil. It sits along a 900-kilometer (560-mile) trade route linking Jordan’s capital of Amman and Iraq’s capital of Baghdad.

Jordan’s exports to Iraq dropped by more than two-thirds from a pre-closure level of $1.4 billion a year.

source: AFP