The following is a timeline of major events during the Iraq War, following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The Quds Force is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Force as an organization analogous to a combination of the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the United States. Responsible for extraterritorial operations, the Quds Force supports non-state actors in many countries, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yemeni Houthis, and Shia militias in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. According to Michael Wigginton et al., the Al-Quds Force is "a classic example of state-sponsored terrorism."
The following lists events that happened during 2006 in Iraq.
The Karbala provincial headquarters raid was a special operation carried out on January 20, 2007, by the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq against the U.S. contingent of the Joint Security Station, located within the Iraqi Police headquarters. The assault, which left five U.S. soldiers dead and three wounded, has been called the "boldest and most sophisticated attack in four years of warfare" and is furthermore notable for being one of the few instances when any sort of militants or insurgents have actually managed to capture U.S. soldiers since the Vietnam War.
Operation Imposing Law, also known as Operation Law and Order, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon or Baghdad Security Plan (BSP), was a joint Coalition-Iraqi security plan conducted throughout Baghdad. Under the Surge plan developed in late 2006, Baghdad was to be divided into nine zones, with Iraqi and American soldiers working side by side to clear each sector of Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents and establish Joint Security Stations so that reconstruction programs could begin in safety. The U.S. military commander in Iraq, David Petraeus, went so far as to say Iraq would be "doomed" if this plan failed. Numerous members of Congress stated the plan was a critical period for the U.S. presence in Iraq.
Operation Phantom Thunder began on 16 June 2007, when Multi-National Force-Iraq launched major offensive operations against al-Qaeda and other extremist terrorists operating throughout Iraq. It was the largest coordinated military operation since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Operation Phantom Thunder was a corps level operation, including Operation Arrowhead Ripper in Diyala Province, Operation Marne Torch and Operation Commando Eagle in Babil Province, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon in Baghdad, Operation Alljah in Anbar Province, and continuing special forces actions against the Mahdi Army in southern Iraq and against Al-Qaeda leadership throughout the country. The operation was one of the biggest military operations in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003.
Ali Mussa Daqduq is a senior Hezbollah leader and senior advisor to Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq leader Qais al-Khazali. He was captured by US troops in Basra, Iraq on 20 March 2007 along with Qais al-Khazali and his brother Laith al-Khazali. He is alleged to have participated in the 20 January 2007 attack killing five US troops in Karbala. Later, in 2012, two Iraqi courts found him not guilty of masterminding the 2007 raid on an American military base and released him from prison. US Intelligence has alleged that Daqduq's testimony during his internment is key evidence for collaboration between Iran and Hezbollah. He is alleged to have been a key facilitator of an IRGC-Quds Force sniper network in Iraq.
Events in the year 2008 in Iraq.
The 2008 Nineveh campaign was a series of offensives and counter-attacks between insurgent and Coalition forces for control of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq in early-to-mid-2008. Some fighting also occurred in the neighboring Kirkuk Governorate.
The 2008 Iraq spring fighting was a series of clashes between the Mahdi Army and allies and the Iraqi Army supported by coalition forces, in southern Iraq and parts of Baghdad, that began with an Iraqi offensive in Basra.
The siege of Sadr City was a blockade of the Shi'a district of northeastern Baghdad carried out by US and Iraqi government forces in an attempt to destroy the main power base of the insurgent Mahdi Army in Baghdad. The siege began on 4 April 2004 – later dubbed "Black Sunday" – with an uprising against the Coalition Provisional Authority following the government banning of a newspaper published by Muqtada Al-Sadr's Sadrist Movement. The most intense periods of fighting in Sadr City occurred during the first uprising in April 2004, the second in August the same year, during the sectarian conflict that gripped Baghdad in late 2006, during the Iraq War troop surge of 2007, and during the spring fighting of 2008.
Special Groups (SGs) is a designation given by the United States military to the cell-based Shi'a paramilitary organizations operating within Iraq, backed by Iran. According to the United States these groups are funded, trained, and armed by the Iranian Quds Force, part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to the United States Department of Defense, 603 American troops in total were confirmed to have been killed by IRGC-backed Shia militias during the Iraq War.
Joint Special Operations Command Task Force in the Iraq War was a joint American and British special operations unit, of which little is publicly known. It is described as a "hunter-killer team" with its core made up of the United States Army's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta and the 75th Ranger Regiment, as well as the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group and members of the United States Air Force's 24th Special Tactics Squadron, all under Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and elements from the United Kingdom Special Forces, including the Special Air Service, Special Boat Service (SBS), Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR), 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG). The unit was reported to be responsible for the cross border raid into Syria from Iraq in October 2008 that resulted in eight deaths including Abu Ghadiya, along with several US operations in the Horn of Africa targeting al-Qaeda.
Kata'ib Hezbollah or the Hezbollah Brigades, is a radical Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group which used to be part of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), staffing the 45th, 46th, and 47th Brigades. During the Iraq War (2003–11), the group fought against Coalition forces. It has been active in the War in Iraq (2013–2017) and the Syrian civil war (2011–present). The group was commanded by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis until he was killed in a US drone attack in 2020. Thereafter, he was replaced by Abdul Aziz al-Muhammadawi, as the new leader of the PMF. KH seeks to establish an Iran-aligned government in Iraq, expel American forces from the country, and advance the regional and international interests of Iran in Iraq and the region. The group is responsible for killing hundreds of U.S. soldiers and takes a central part in carrying out attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq and acts as part of the Axis of Resistance. Kata'ib Hezbollah has received extensive training, funding, logistic support, weapons, and intelligence from the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Qais Hadi Sayed Hasan al-Khazali is an Iraqi politician and militant leader who is the founder and Secretary-General of the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, an Iraqi Shi'ite paramilitary organization and political party. He is best known as the founder and leader of the Iran-backed Special Groups in Iraq from June 2006 until his capture by British forces in March 2007. As head of the Special Groups, Khazali directed arms shipment, formation of squads to participate in fighting, and insurgent operations, most notably the 20 January 2007 attack on American forces in Karbala. A former follower of Muqtada al-Sadr, he was expelled from the Mahdi Army in 2004 for giving "unauthorized orders" and founded his own group: Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) also known as the "Khazali Network" that was later designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. Department of State. During his incarceration, Akram al-Kaabi became acting commander of the organization until his release.
Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, also known as the Khazali Network, is a radical Iraqi Shi'a political party and paramilitary organization active in the Iraqi insurgency and Syrian Civil War. During the Iraq War it was known as Iraq's largest "Special Group", and, from 2016 until 2020, used to be part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in the 41st, 42nd, and 43rd Brigades, cooperating with the Iraqi government in its fight against ISIS.
Events in the year 2010 in Iraq.
The 2020 Camp Taji attacks were rocket attacks that took place on 11 March and 14 March 2020, targeting Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, in Baghdad Governorate, which hosts Coalition and United States Forces in Iraq.
The following outline is provided as an overview of, and topical guide to, the Iraq War.
