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 president Saddam Hussein, the most recent of which is the ISIS conflict, in which the Iraqi government declared victory in 2017.[4]
In the ensuing 2003-11 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.[5] 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.[6] Full-scale fighting in the country came to a close in 2017 as the Iraqi government and its allies largely defeated the IS. A low-level IS insurgency continues in the rural northern parts of the country.[1]