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Iraq

August 19, 2026

Baghdad 10:18 am

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Smoke rises after explosions were heard and air defences activated near the airport in Erbil, on July 24, 2026.

Explainer

Why Iran targeted Barzani family stronghold in Iraqi Kurdistan

Iran’s Kurdish opposition groups have turned Iraqi Kurdistan into a frontline in the war.

A man inspects the damage at the site of a strike in Bartalla, in the northern Iraq's Nineveh province, after US-Saudi attacks on militias, July 29, 2026.

Iraq intel and security officials visit Saudi Arabia after drone attacks

Iraqi authorities are cracking down on drone attacks after US and Saudi airstrikes targeted Iran-backed militias in the country.

Latest News

Analysis

What Qaani's Baghdad visit reveals about Iran's post-war dilemma

The commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Esmail Qaani, speaks during a commemoration ceremony marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of Guards general Qasem Soleimani (on screen) in the capital Tehran on Jan. 3, 2024.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

IRGC chief Qaani reportedly in Iraq ahead of militia deadline

Qaani

Analysis

How Turkey is deepening energy and economic ties with Iraq as Iran weakens

a worker inspects an oil field in Iraq

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Tribal assassinations spark Iraqi-Syrian border concern

The assassination of a prominent tribal figure and reports of continuing smuggling of individuals from Syria into Iraq have raised concerns on both sides of the border.

Turkey strikes PKK targets in Iraqi Kurdistan Sulaimaniyah province

It is less common for Turkey to bomb the Kurdish armed group there. More of the Turkey-PKK conflict in Iraq takes place in Dahuk near the Turkish border.

After 30-year hiatus, French archaeological mission returns to Iraq

The French excavation mission succeeded in uncovering a network of large water channels, a port, houses and a large temple, as well as clay tablets in the city of Larsa, a capital city in the Babylonian era.

No quick fix for Iraq's electricity crisis

Previous Iraqi governments' failure to solve the electricity crisis was one of the reasons for the popular protests.

A picture taken on January 13, 2020, during a press tour organised by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State group, shows US army drones at the Ain al-Asad airbase in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. - Iran last week launched a wave of missiles at the sprawling Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and a base in Arbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, both hosting US and other foreign troops, in an operation it dubbed a response to the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the h

Has Iraq failed to control drone movement?

Iraq is facing a new security challenge with its lack of control of drones, which have been increasingly used in the past months.

Iraqi soldiers take position as they disembark from an MI171 helicopter during a joint land and air training with US soldiers from 1st Air Cavalry Brigade at Camp Taji, 25kms north of Baghdad, on March 29, 2010. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Pro-Iran militias continue hitting military bases in Iraq

Hitting military bases in Baghdad and other areas, armed groups linked to Iran continues to call for revenge for the January killing of their former leaders Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Six years after Yazidi massacre, US urged to take 'bolder action'

Iraq's Yazidis say the threat from the Islamic State and other extremist groups is preventing them from returning home.

Iran strikes Kurdish Iranian group in Iraqi territory

Iran sometimes targets the positions of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and other Kurdish Iranian groups based across the border in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Iraqi prime minister presses ahead with promise of early elections

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has committed to early elections, but Iraq's political blocs may resist.

Iraq’s prime minister says early elections to be held in June 2021

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said parliamentary elections will be held June 6, 2021.

Iraq’s government says families of nearly 560 killed in protests to be compensated

The Interior Ministry also announced the arrest of three members of the Iraqi security forces it said were responsible for two protester deaths overnight Sunday.

An Iraqi policeman, wearing a protective mask and gloves due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stands by a water sprinkler on a hot summer day in Baghdad on July 7, 2020. (Photo by SABAH ARAR / AFP) (Photo by SABAH ARAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqis face record-breaking heat, electricity cuts

Protests against the government and frequent power outages are continuing amid Iraq's highest temperatures on record.