Heavy rains flood Syria-Iraq border crossing vital to Kurds

AMUDA, Syria – A border crossing linking Syria's Kurdish-administered areas to Iraq's northern Kurdish region has been flooded due to heavy rains.

The Semelka crossing was shut Monday as flooding rendered two pontoon bridges across the Tigris out of order.

The crossing had been key for international journalists entering Syria to report on the U.S.-backed Syrian forces' fight in Baghouz, the last area held by Islamic State militants. The village was liberated Saturday.

The crossing opened in 2013, giving the Syrian Kurds in the country's northeast access to the outside world independent of President Bashar Assad's government. Damascus doesn't recognize the Kurdish-administered areas.

Seasonal heavy rains hit this part of Syria over the weekend, flooding roads and farms. Mosques in the town of Jawadiyah urged an evacuation, fearing the local dam would flood.