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Instability in Iraq

Voting Turnout Hits Record Low in Iraq

  • Forty-one percent of voters participated in parliamentary elections that were held months early due to mass protests, a record-low turnout in the post–Saddam Hussein era (Associated Press)

Twelve Iraqi Police Officers Killed in Attack

  • The self-declared Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack over the weekend that killed at least twelve Iraqi police officers near the city of Kirkuk (Wall Street Journal)

Droughts Threaten Twelve Million People in Iraq, Syria

  • Amid droughts across Iraq and Syria, more than twelve million people are losing access to water, food, and electricity, aid groups warned in a new report. Humanitarian organizations called for regional authorities and donor governments to act quickly, both to provide emergency aid and to invest in long-term solutions to the water crisis (Al Jazeera)

U.S. Lawmakers Debate Repealing Iraq AUMFs

  • The Biden administration encouraged lawmakers on Tuesday to repeal the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for the use of military force (AUMFs) in Iraq. Republican senators argued that such moves would signal to Iran that the United States is retreating from the Middle East (Associated Press)
  • Meanwhile, the United States has begun returning more than seventeen thousand artifacts that were looted from Iraq over several decades, mainly after the Gulf War (National)

UN Report Details Torture, Rights Denial in Iraqi Prisons

  • A new UN report documents how Iraqi authorities routinely deny prisoners due process and legal representation and frequently obtain confessions through torture. About forty thousand people are held in Iraqi prisons (Washington Post)

U.S. to End Combat Mission in Iraq

  • The United States will end its combat mission in Iraq by the end of the year, President Joe Biden said while Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi visited the White House yesterday. Biden did not say whether the U.S. troop presence of 2,500 will be reduced, but said that the United States remains committed to aiding Iraq in its fight against the Islamic State (Associated Press)

U.S., Iraqi Leaders to Meet at White House

  • U.S. President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will meet today at the White House, where they are expected to announce the redeployment of U.S. combat troops from Iraq (USA Today)

U.S. to Announce Shift in Iraq Mission to Advisory Role

  • The United States and Iraq are preparing to announce a shift in the U.S. mission in Iraq from a combat to a fully advisory role, an unnamed U.S. official said. The move, which could take place by year’s end, is expected to be announced during the visit of Iraq’s prime minister to Washington next week (Politico)

Bomber Kills Dozens at Baghdad Market

  • A suicide-bomb attack at a Baghdad market killed at least thirty-five people and injured more than sixty, according to security and hospital sources. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack (Reuters)

Fire Kills Dozens in COVID-19 Ward of Iraqi Hospital

  • At least sixty-four people died in a fire in the COVID-19 isolation ward of a hospital in the city of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq, health officials said. Exploding oxygen tanks are believed to have sparked the blaze (CNN)

Rocket, Drone Attacks Target U.S. Personnel in Iraq, Syria

  • A series of rocket and drone attacks have targeted facilities housing U.S. diplomats and troops in Iraq and Syria since Monday, with one attack wounding two U.S. service members. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, which come amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran-backed militias (Reuters)

U.S. Air Strikes Target Iran-Backed Militias in Iraq, Syria

  • The United States carried out air raids on facilities used by Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria in response to drone attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq, the Pentagon said (Financial Times)
  • Iraq’s military spokesperson called the U.S. strikes a “breach of sovereignty” (Reuters)

White House Supports Repeal of Iraq War Authorization

  • The White House issued a statement supporting legislation in the House of Representatives to repeal the 2002 authorization to use military force in Iraq. Last year, the House approved a motion to repeal the authorization, but it was opposed by the Donald Trump administration and was not taken up in the Senate (CNN)

Contractor Injured in Rocket Attack on U.S. Base in Iraq

  • A contractor working for a U.S. company suffered light injuries from a rocket attack on an Iraqi air base north of Baghdad. It was the second rocket attack to target U.S. interests in less than twenty-four hours (Al Jazeera)

U.S., Iraq Meet to Discuss U.S. Troops

  • U.S. and Iraqi delegates held a third round of discussions, the first under President Biden, on the United States’ troop presence in Iraq. In a joint statement afterward, they said U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq are now “focused on training and advisory tasks” and that U.S. combat troops can be redeployed on a to-be-established timeline (Washington Post)

Pope Francis Makes Historic Visit to Iraq

  • Pope Francis arrived in Baghdad today, kicking off the first papal visit to Iraq, despite the country’s soaring COVID-19 caseload and persistent insecurity (Washington Post)
  • The pope’s first international visit since the start of the pandemic will follow a packed schedule that includes meeting with political and civil society leaders, hosting an interfaith service, and visiting Iraq’s reclusive, most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani (Associated Press, France 24, Reuters)
  • Despite continued security concerns, Iraq sees the visit as an opportunity to demonstrate its increased stability. Previous popes canceled trips to the country over tensions and conflict (New York Times)

Rockets Hit Iraqi Base Used by U.S. Troops

  • U.S. and Iraqi officials said a base that houses U.S. troops in Iraq’s al-Anbar Governorate was hit by rockets today. No group claimed responsibility, but Iran attacked the same base last year following the U.S. killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani (Associated Press, CBS)

U.S., Iraq Vow to Hold Attackers Accountable

  • During a call, President Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi vowed to hold accountable the perpetrators of recent rocket attacks against Iraqi personnel and the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, the White House said (Al Jazeera)
  • Iran-backed militia Kata’ib Hezbollah denied responsibility for attacks on U.S. targets (Reuters)

UN Condemns Attack on U.S. Military Base in Iraq

  • Several countries and the United Nations condemned Monday’s deadly rocket attack that was apparently aimed at a military complex used by the U.S.-led coalition in the city of Erbil (Al Jazeera)
  • The United States did not rule out retaliation (CNBC)

Attack on Base in Iraq Kills One, Injures Others

  • A civilian contractor was killed and six other people were injured in a rocket attack on an air base used by U.S.-led coalition troops in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged to “hold accountable those responsible,” and Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani condemned the incident (Agence France-Presse)

Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Baghdad Bombing

  • The Islamic State said it was responsible for a suicide bombing in the Iraqi capital yesterday that killed more than thirty people and injured over one hundred. It was Iraq’s deadliest suicide bombing in nearly three years (Al Jazeera)

Rare Suicide Attack in Baghdad Kills Dozens

  • Baghdad suffered its first suicide bombing since January 2018 today, with at least thirty-two people killed and dozens more injured after two attackers wearing explosive vests blew themselves up in a crowded market, authorities said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack (Reuters)

Iraqi Anti-Government Activist Reportedly Killed

  • Salah al-Iraqi, known for his role in anti-government protests last year, was shot dead in Baghdad, according to security and medical sources. Nearly six hundred people have died in violence related to protests that began in October 2019 (Al Jazeera)

Kurdish Groups Clash in Iraq

  • At least two people were killed when clashes broke out between rival Kurdish forces—the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Peshmerga—in northern Iraq on Sunday. The region’s security situation has deteriorated as Peshmerga forces build new bases there (Al Jazeera)

Trump Orders Troop Drawdown From Iraq, Afghanistan

  • The Pentagon announced yesterday that thousands of U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq by January 15, days before President-Elect Joe Biden takes office. The countries will keep roughly 2,500 troops each, down from 4,500 in Afghanistan and 3,000 in Iraq. Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said the move does not change U.S. policies or objectives (CNN)