Baghdad’s Green Zone reopens to public in bid to ease traffic jams

Iraqi security forces stand guard as they check motorists entering the Green Zone in Baghdad (Hadi Mizban/AP)

Iraqi authorities have reopened Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone in an attempt to ease traffic jams in the capital.

Starting in the early hours of Sunday, officials removed checkpoints and opened major roads and tunnels that cut through the zone on the west bank of the Tigris River.