Australia joined a U.S.-led coalition in the Iraq War. Declassified documents reveal that the decision to go to war was taken primarily with a view to enhancing its alliance with the United States.
The Australian contribution to the war in Afghanistan has been known as Operation Slipper (2001–2014) and Operation Highroad (2015–2021).
Events in the year 2004 in Iraq.
The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment is a mechanised infantry battalion of the Australian Army, based in Kapyong Lines, Townsville as part of the 3rd Brigade. 3 RAR traces its lineage to 1945 and has seen operational service in Japan, Korea, Malaya, Borneo, South Vietnam, Rifle Company Butterworth, East Timor, the Solomon Islands, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Jacob Bruce "Jake" Kovco was a private in the Australian Army who was killed while deployed to Iraq, fatally wounded by a single shot to the head from his own Browning 9mm sidearm. He was the first Australian soldier to die while deployed to the Middle East Area of Operations. A military inquiry found Private Kovco accidentally shot himself while mishandling his pistol. This conclusion was disputed by his family and on 2 April 2008, a second inquest returned a similar verdict, finding that his death was "irresponsibly self-inflicted", and that when he pulled his gun's trigger he "disregarded the possible consequences of danger".
The Security Detachment Iraq was the final component of Australia's contribution to coalition operations in Iraq. SECDET was based on an Australian Army combined arms combat team consisting of an infantry company group and a troop of cavalry which operated the Australian Light Armoured (ASLAV) vehicles. There was also a three man EOD Team from various Combat Engineer Regiments. The force's duties included static security guarding at the Australian Embassy in Baghdad and the protection of Australian diplomats by the 1st MP Bn (CPPT) and Cavalry (RAAC) escort/protection, also vehicle convoys. SECDET was withdrawn in August 2011, with the firm Unity Resources Group becoming responsible for providing security for Australia's diplomatic presence in Iraq.
The following lists events that happened during 2004 in Afghanistan.
Events from the year 2007 in Afghanistan.
This article details major terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2009. In 2009, there were 257 suicide bombings in Iraq. On April 23, a suicide bombing to a restaurant in Miqdadiyah killed 57 people, while a separate bombing in southeastern Baghdad killed 28. The next day, on April 24, a Shi'a shrine was targeted, in a bombing that killed 60. October and December saw two attacks kill over 100 people, with bombings on October 25 and December 8.
This is a list of terrorist incidents in Iraq during 2010. Major attacks include a 1 February attack killing 54 in Baghdad, and a 10 May attack killed 45 at a fabrics factory in Hillah.
The Iraqi insurgency was an insurgency that began in late 2011 after the end of the Iraq War and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, resulting in violent conflict with the central government, as well as low-level sectarian violence among Iraq's religious groups.
The 2013 Hawija clashes relate to a series of violent attacks within Iraq, as part of the 2012–2013 Iraqi protests and Iraqi insurgency post-U.S. withdrawal. On 23 April, an army raid against a protest encampment in the city of Hawija, west of Kirkuk, led to dozens of civilian deaths and the involvement of several insurgent groups in organized action against the government, leading to fears of a return to a wide-scale Sunni–Shia conflict within the country. By 27 April, more than 300 people were reported killed and scores more injured in one of the worst outbreaks of violence since the U.S. withdrawal in December 2011.
During the first two weeks of July 2013, a series of coordinated bombings and shootings struck across several cities in Iraq, killing at least 389 people and injuring more than 800 others.
The following lists events that happened during 2016 in Afghanistan.
Shia Muslims have been persecuted by the Islamic State (IS), an Islamist terrorist group, since 2014. Persecutions have taken place in Iraq, Syria, and other parts of the world.
This is a timeline of events during the War in Iraq of 2013 to 2017 in its final year.
