Iraqi conflict

The Iraqi conflict is a series of violent events that began with the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq and deposition of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, followed by a series of conflicts including the protracted Iraq War (2003–2011), the Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013), the War in Iraq (2013–2017), and most recently, the small-scale Islamic State insurgency in 4 provinces located in Northern Iraq since 2017.

In the ensuing 2003–2011 Iraq War, the Multi-National Force (MNF–I) led by the United States helped to establish a Shia-dominated federal government, which was soon opposed by an Iraqi insurgency. Insurgent groups mostly fought the new government and MNF-I, but also each other, mostly along sectarian lines between Shias and Sunnis. In 2011, the MNF–I withdrew from Iraq, leading to renewed sectarian violence and enabling the emergence of the Islamic State (IS). The renewed war drew an American-led intervention in 2014. The most recent war in the country, up until the 2026 Iran war, came to a close in 2017 as the Iraqi government and its allies largely defeated the IS, which was followed by a low-level IS insurgency in certain rural northern parts of the country. The country then had been drawn into the 2026 regional war in the Middle East between the US, Israel and Iran, experiencing airstrikes from both sides of the war, along with militia attacks on U.S. bases and allies across the region.