Global Conflict Tracker
← Back to Conflict

Latest News

Instability in Iraq

At Least Twenty Thousand Islamic State Fighters Remain in Iraq and Syria, Says UN

  • A United Nations report released yesterday found that between twenty and thirty thousand Islamic State militants remain in Iraq and Syria (Agence France-Presse)

Iraqi Court Gives French and German Citizens Life Sentences for Joining Islamic State

  • An Iraqi court sentenced a French man and a German woman, among more than a dozen others, to life imprisonment for membership in the Islamic State (Reuters)
  • Separately, between July 30 and August 4, coalition forces conducted six air strikes against the Islamic State across Iraq (U.S. Central Command)

U.S.-Led Coalition Admits a Thousand Civilian Deaths in Iraq and Syria

  • The U.S.-led coalition fighting the self-proclaimed Islamic State said its roughly thirty thousand air strikes in the region have killed 1,059 civilians since August 2014. A UK-based monitoring group has put the death toll as high as 9,947 civilians (VOA)

Standoff Between Kurdish Forces and Gunmen in Iraq’s Erbil Ends

  • Clashes between Kurdish security forces and three gunmen, one of whom blew himself up, in Erbil’s governorate building concluded with two gunmen and one civilian dead. The mayor of Erbil linked the attack to the Islamic State (Al Jazeera)
  • Separately, between July 16 and 22, the United States-led coalition conducted four strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq (Department of Defense)

Iraq’s Sadr Backs Protesters in South

  • Muqtada al-Sadr called on politicians to hold off forming a government until they meet what he called “rightful demands” raised by protesters in the country’s south (Reuters)
  • Demonstrators have called for fair distribution of natural resource revenue (Associated Press)

Iraq Arrests Islamic State Militants in Mosul

  • The Iraqi Interior Ministry arrested four Islamic State militants in the al-Zahraa and al-Qahira districts of eastern Mosul (Iraqi News)
  • Separately, Iraqi security forces with support from the U.S.-led coalition cleared an Islamic State safe haven in the Makhmour Mountains region (Department of Defense)

Ballot Recount Begins in Iraq

  • Electoral authorities began a manual recount of ballots from six provinces where some groups alleged fraud during May parliamentary elections (Associated Press)

Coalition Forces Continue to Target Islamic State in Iraq

  • Coalition forces continue to target the Islamic State, conducting nine air strikes across Iraq last week (U.S. Central Command)

Iraq Executes Twelve Members of Islamic State

  • Iraq executed twelve members of the Islamic State following an order by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to immediately carry out death sentences for hundreds of suspected fighters (Al Jazeera)

Iraqi Cleric Announces Alliance With Pro-Iran Bloc

  • Muqtada al-Sadr, an influential Shia cleric behind the bloc that won the most seats in recent parliamentary elections, announced the formation of a coalition with the pro-Iran political bloc that came in second in last month’s vote (Al Jazeera)

Iraq’s Parliament Orders Election Recount

  • Outgoing Iraqi lawmakers ordered a full recount of a May 12 general election and replaced the independent electoral commission with a panel of judges (Al Jazeera)

Iraq’s Sadr Vows ‘Inclusive’ Government

  • Prominent cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose coalition won the most seats in May 12 parliamentary elections, met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi yesterday to discuss forming a government. Sadr’s block won 54 of parliament’s 329 seats, according to results released over the weekend (Associated Press)

Populist Cleric on Path to Win Iraqi Election

  • Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said his party is ready to “cooperate in forming the strongest government for Iraq” as preliminary results showed a coalition backed by influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr leading in Sunday’s general election. Results have not yet been announced in two provinces (Reuters)

Coalition Backed by Shia Cleric Leads in Iraq Election

  • A coalition backed by influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was leading in a preliminary vote count for Iraq’s parliamentary election (Washington Post)
  • Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s coalition has not won any of the ten provinces for which results have been announced; ballots are still being counted in another eight (Rudaw)

Islamic State Claims Iraqi Candidate’s Assassination

  • The Islamic State said it was behind the shooting of parliamentary candidate Faruq Zarzur al-Juburi yesterday and called on Sunni Muslims to reject the May 12 election, the first since Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the militant group (Middle East Eye)

U.S.-Led Coalition Winds Down Combat Operations in Iraq

  • The coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq closed its Baghdad headquarters yesterday, a move that U.S. Central Command said comes in response to the “changing composition and responsibilities of the coalition,” which was formed four years ago (Washington Post)
  • U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis did not specify changes to U.S. troop levels in the country, which stand at several thousand, but said their mission would shift from “enabling combat operations” to developing the self-sufficiency of Iraqi forces (Military Times)

Airports Reopened in Iraqi Kurdistan

  • Baghdad ordered airports to reopen in Iraqi Kurdistan after the regional administration agreed to hand over control of them to the central government. The region has been without international flights for close to six months (Rudaw)

NATO Agrees to Expand Iraq Training Mission

  • Following a meeting of NATO defense ministers, the alliance announced that it will expand its military training mission in Iraq, as part of the international effort to stabilize and rebuild Iraq after three years of war against the Islamic State. The mission will train Iraqi soldiers but will not provide troops for combat (Associated Press)

Australia to Stop Anti-ISIS Air Strikes

  • Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne said that the country will cease conducting air strikes against the self-proclaimed Islamic State and bring home six of its jets following Iraq’s recent announcement that it has defeated the militant group (BBC)

Iraq Celebrates Islamic State’s Ouster

  • A military parade in Baghdad yesterday celebrated Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s announcement that the Islamic State has been ousted from Iraq. The group controlled nearly one-third of Iraq at its height, when the government began its three-year battle against the militants (Voice of America)

World Bank Approves Reconstruction Financing for Iraq

  • The World Bank has approved $400 million in financing in addition to $350 million already approved in 2015 for reconstruction of Iraqi territory recaptured from the Islamic State (Reuters)

Kurdish Leader Resigns as Tensions With Baghdad Persist

  • Kurdish President Masoud Barzani announced on Sunday he will step down this week in the latest fallout from an October 1 independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan opposed by Baghdad and the United States. Barzani’s resignation comes as Iraqi forces have retaken over the last two weeks disputed territories that were controlled by Kurdish forces (Financial Times)

Iraqi Kurds Offer to Freeze Referendum Results

  • The Kurdish regional government offered to freeze the results of a September independence referendum and cease military operations in Kurdistan to allow dialogue with Baghdad (Rudaw)
  • Baghdad accused Kurdish forces yesterday of attacking and killing Iraqi soldiers (New York Times)

Tillerson: Shia Militias in Iraq ‘Must’ Return Home

  • U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Iranian-backed militias who have been fighting the Islamic State in Iraq “must go home” as the battle there nears its end. Tillerson spoke from Saudi Arabia during an inaugural meeting to improve ties between Iraq and Saudi Arabia (BBC)

Iraq Declares Kirkuk Mission Complete

  • Iraqi troops and allied militias have taken the Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk and parts of Nineveh and Diyala provinces, declaring that security is restored. The operation came three weeks after an independence referendum in the region that was opposed by Baghdad (BBC)