Iraqi security forces have reopened the old road that links Anbar province with the capital Baghdad on Thursday (November 2nd), officials told Diyaruna.

The road leading from Fallujah to the western entrance of Baghdad had been closed for three years for security reasons after the fall of several Anbar cities, including Fallujah, into the hands of the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS).

The Baghdad Operations Command reopened the old Fallujah-Baghdad road after all security and logistical requirements have been met, Anbar provincial council member Farhan Mohammed Saleh told Diyaruna.

The local government in Anbar has carried out a month-long campaign to repair the 65-kilometre long road.

Work included filling holes, removing all traces of destruction, cleaning and tree-planting, Saleh said, adding that ISIS militants had booby-trapped sections of the road before they were ousted from Fallujah.

Security forces have set up a main checkpoint on the road equipped with the latest explosives detection technology and deployed security detachments and patrols to protect it from attacks, he said.

Easing traffic, flow of goods

"This road will ease the burden on passengers traveling between Baghdad and Anbar and dissolve traffic jams," Saleh said.

"We currently have one main land route connecting our province with the capital," he said.

The al-Suqour checkpoint located on that route usually witnesses heavy traffic congestion and long queues of cars waiting to pass through, he added.

But now, with the reopening of the old Fallujah-Baghdad road, traffic will likely be reduced by half, Saleh said.

The road also will facilitate the flow of goods and merchandise to Anbar.

"We urgently needed another outlet to facilitate the passage of commercial trucks to the province, as well as materials necessary for infrastructure reconstruction projects in our cities that have been damaged by terrorism," he said.