(Zaman Al Wasl) - Afrasianet - Two good news the Jordanian government has received in four days that may lessen the deteriorating economy crisis as the main border crossings in Syria have turned under the regime control.

Nasib border crossing with Jordan and al-Tanaf border crossing with Iraq would raise the Jordanian hopes to revive a once flourishing trade route and encourage Syrian refugees to return.

The regime forces on Friday reached Nasib crossing with Jordan and raised the national flag for the first time in years.

Rebels seized control of the crossing in 2015, cutting a major lifeline for Syrian exports and disrupting a major trade route between Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and oil-rich gulf countries.

The capture of the Nasi

b border crossing came after a crushing regime offensive that began June 19 to retake southern Daraa province and the nearby Quneitra region that borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

For years, the opposition groups resisted Jordanian pressure to hand control of Nasib crossing back to the regime.

Talks over reopening the Nasib crossing have gathered pace since a Russian-U.S. brokered ceasefire in July 2017 brought relative calm to southern Syria, the first peacekeeping effort in the war by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, according to Reuters.

Before the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, Nasib served as a major transit route for hundreds of trucks a day transporting goods between Turkey and the Gulf in multi-billion dollar annual trade. Its closure has also had a knock-on effect for other economies in the region, including Lebanon’s.

Tanaf Crossing

Jaysh Usud al-Sharqiya, key rebel group operating at the Iraqi border has agreed to lay down arms to the Jordanian army and to leave Tanaf border crossing, sources told Zaman al-Wasl.

The US-backed group will join the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria.

Evacuating the Tanaf crossing is the second blow for rebels after withdrawing from the Nasib border crossing between Jordan and southern Syria last week.

Syria's conflict has killed more than 400,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011.

2018-07-15