Iraq - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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Iraq

October 4, 2026

Baghdad 4:36 pm

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A member of the Iraqi security forces flashes the victory sign during a military parade

Explainer

What Iraq’s US troop withdrawal means for security after Kirkuk killings

As Iraq assumes full responsibility for its security following the coalition’s withdrawal, a disputed counterterrorism operation in Kirkuk is raising questions about accountability, public trust and lingering security gaps.

Members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) paramilitary forces stand guard during an election rally for the "Asaib Ahl al-Haq" movement in the capital Baghdad, on October 7, 2021.

Analysis

After US exit, Iran gains space in Iraq and a harder balancing act

For Iran, the easier part may have been getting Washington out, but it may now have to struggle turning the absence into durable influence and reviving its allied militias without provoking instability.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

US President Donald Trump meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, on July 8, 2026.

Trump’s integration policies build on Gulf, Turkey ties and Syria success

Iran’s influence, and the potential for renewed conflict, complicate progress in Iraq.

Latest News

Iraq announces Iran flights to resume: What to know

An Airbus A321 airliner arrives at the Mehrabad international airport during the delivery of the first batch of planes to the Iranian state airline Iran Air in the capital Tehran on Jan. 12, 2017.

Analysis

Can Turkey’s Bashiqa withdrawal pave the way for deeper Iraq ties?

Turkish soldiers conduct military exercises near the Habur crossing gate between Turkey and Iraq on Sept. 27, 2017 in the Silopi district, southeast Turkey.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

How militias in Anbar could complicate Iraq’s energy ambitions

Iraqi soldiers from the new 'desert battalion' special forces stand next to military vehicles as the take part in a graduation ceremony, after months of training by the French military, at the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar west of Baghdad on February 29, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Suadad al-Salhy

In Baghdad, reporting on politics and security

Lyse Mauvais

In Amman, reporting on humanitarian crises

Winthrop Rodgers

In Sulaymaniyah, reporting on Kurdish issues

382543 02: Iraqi president Saddam Hussein raises his rifle in a salute and fires it November 20, 2000 durring Grand Day of Quds festivities in Baghdad. Grand Day of Quds celebrates Iraq''s commitment to liberating Jerusalem from Israeli rule. (Photo by Newsmakers

Iraq's Baath Party archive location unknown

The United States last month shipped a historic archive of Baath regime documents to Iraq, but the government is keeping mum about its location and fate, given the political sensitivity of the documents.

Employees display rifles for sale at a gun shop in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on September 22, 2020. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq cracks down on illegal arms flow to militias, armed groups

Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s government has launched a campaign in southern provinces to get illegal arms out of the hands of militias and tribal groups.

OPEC+ pressures Iraq, UAE to further cut oil production

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members held a virtual meeting with Russia and other allied oil producers today to discuss the continuing low price of oil amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

An Iraqi anti-government demonstrator walks past posters of Iraqi polititians and a US flag in Tahrir Square in the capital Baghdad, on August 1, 2020. - Iraq will hold its next parliamentary elections nearly a year early, the premier announced yesterday, as he seeks to make good on promises he offered when he came to power.
Protests began in October, with thousands taking to the streets of Baghdad and across the south.
Demonstrators demanded that the political system be dismantled, pointing to endemic corr

Iraqi government steps up fight against corruption

The arrest of six senior officials on corruption charges shows that serious steps are taken in the fight against corruption, amid calls that the government speeds up its reform program.

US gives Iraqi Kurdistan peshmerga $250 million worth of Humvees, ammo

Washington's ambassador announced the move as some US troops prepare to leave Iraq.

Iraq, counter-IS coalition kill, capture Islamic State figures

The US-led anti-IS coalition provided helicopter transport for the Iraqi raid in al-Rutba.

PKK under pressure in Iraq's Kurdistan Region

Turkey is continuing its attacks on the Kurdistan Workers Party as a senior Iraqi Kurdish military official hints the group may be wearing out its welcome.

A picture of Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani is seen at a shop in a market in the capital Baghdad on January 18, 2020. (Photo by SABAH ARAR / AFP) (Photo by SABAH ARAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Sistani backs Iraqi government crackdown on outlawed militias

Top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani backs early elections and calls on the Iraqi government to take action against the outlawed militias and mafia active in the country.

Kurdish Iraqi men and women practice yoga on Mount Azmar, which overlooks the northern city of Sulaimaniyah in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, on July 19, 2020. - According to kurdish Iraqi Yoga instructor Muhammad Sherzade, an increasing number of people joined his class since he established his school in the region in 2016, following the outbreak earlier this year of the coronavirus epidemic. (Photo by Shwan MOHAMMED / AFP) (Photo by SHWAN MOHAMMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Are Iraqi youths losing their religion?

Despite the influence of religion in Iraqi politics, recent studies show that young people in Iraq are increasingly identifying as secularist.

Denmark will open embassy to Iraq in Baghdad this year

Denmark is assuming control of NATO's training mission in Iraq in December. The European Union member has also trained PMU forces in the fight against the Islamic State.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi (C) chairs a meeting with military commanders in Tarmiyah, 35 kilometres (20 miles) north of Baghdad on July 20, 2020. (Photo by Khalid MOHAMMED / POOL / AFP) (Photo by KHALID MOHAMMED/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqi prime minister forbids state bodies from classifying Iraqis by sect

Mustafa al-Kadhimi's decision was prompted by an outcry over the Iraqi Military College listing new students by sectarian classification.

US army soldiers, part of the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group, walk around at the K1 Air Base northwest of Kirkuk in northern Iraq before a planned US pullout on March 29, 2020. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

More than 2,000 US troops to leave Iraq in September, CENTCOM says

CENTCOM head formally announces long-awaited reduction of US forces in Iraq.