Federal government of Iraq in the context of "Iraqi civil war (2006–2008)"

The Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous federal region of the Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurdish-majority governorates of Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Duhok Governorate, and Halabja Governorate. It is located in northern Iraq, which shares borders with Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, and Syria to the west.

It does not govern all of Iraqi Kurdistan and lays claim to the disputed territories of northern Iraq; these territories have a predominantly non-Arab population and were subject to the Ba'athist Arabization campaigns throughout the late 20th century. Though the KRI's autonomy was realized in 1992, one year after Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War, these northern territories remain contested between the Kurdistan Regional Government (in Erbil) and the Government of Iraq (in Baghdad) to the present day. The Kurdistan Region Parliament is based in Erbil, the capital of KRI.

The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) is a term used by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to describe law enforcement and military forces of the federal government of the Republic of Iraq. During the Iraq War, these entities received training and instruction from the multinational MNF-I and later on during the war against ISIS, they received further training and assistance from the CJTF-OIR.

According to Article 121 of Iraq's constitution, the federal regions are responsible for the establishment and organization of internal security forces of their respective regions. Therefore, Peshmerga is not within the scope of this term.

Kirkuk (Arabic: كركوك; Kurdish: کەرکووک, romanized: Kerkûk; Syriac: ܟܪܟܘܟ, romanized: Kerkouk; Turkish: Kerkük) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Citadel which sits near the Khasa River.

It is described by the Kurdish leader and former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani as “the Jerusalem of Kurdistan” even though it is not part of Iraqi Kurdistan region, while it is seen by the Turkmen activist Fatih Salah as the cultural and historical capital of Iraqi Turkmens. The government of Iraq states that Kirkuk represents a small version of Iraq due to its diverse population, and that the city is a model for coexistence in the country.

On 15 June 2014 U.S. President Barack Obama ordered United States forces to be dispatched in response to the Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014) of the Islamic State (ISIL), as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. At the invitation of the Iraqi government, American troops went to assess Iraqi forces and the threat posed by ISIL.

In early August 2014, ISIL began its Northern Iraq offensive. On 5 August, the United States started supplying the Kurdish Peshmerga forces with weapons. On 8 August, the United States began airstrikes against ISIL positions in Iraq. Nine other countries also launched airstrikes against ISIL, more or less in concert with Kurdish and Iraqi government ground troops. By December 2017, ISIL had no remaining territory in Iraq, following the 2017 Western Iraq campaign.

The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI; Arabic: دولة العراق الإسلامية Dawlat al-ʿIrāq al-ʾIslāmiyyah) was a Salafi jihadist militant organization that fought the forces of the U.S.-led coalition during the Iraqi insurgency. The organization aimed to overthrow the Iraqi federal government and establish an Islamic state governed by Sharia law in Iraq.

Islamic State of Iraq traces its origins to Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (JTJ) group, which was formed by the Jordanian national Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Jordan in 1999. Al-Zarqawi led the group, until his death in June 2006. Jama'at fought the American occupation forces during the early Iraqi insurgency following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and on 17 October 2004 al-Zarqawi had pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network; and the group became known as "Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn" (commonly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq). In January 2006, AQI and seven other Sunni guerrilla groups formed the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC), which on 15 October 2006 disbanded to form the "Islamic State of Iraq" organization, led by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi as its first Emir. Announcing the dissolution of both AQI and the MSC, al-Baghdadi declared that the previous organizations have been replaced by ISI.

Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, was executed on 30 December 2006. Saddam was sentenced to death by hanging, after being convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal for the Dujail massacre—the killing of 148 Iraqi Shi'ites in the town of Dujail, in 1982, in retaliation against an attempt on his life.

The Iraqi government released an official video of his execution, showing him being led to the gallows, and ending after the hangman's noose was placed over his head. International public controversy arose when a mobile phone recording of the hanging showed him surrounded by a contingent of his countrymen, who jeered him in Arabic and praised the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and his subsequent fall through the trap door of the gallows.

The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) was a term used by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to describe law enforcement and military forces of the federal government of the Republic of Iraq. During the Iraq War, these entities received training and instruction from the multinational MNF-I and later on during the war against ISIS, they received further training and assistance from the CJTF-OIR.

According to Article 121 of Iraq's constitution, the federal regions are responsible for the establishment and organization of internal security forces of their respective regions. Therefore, Peshmerga is not within the scope of this term.

The Third Battle of Fallujah, code-named Operation Breaking Terrorism (Arabic: عملية كسر الإرهاب) by the Iraqi government, was a military operation against ISIL launched to capture the city of Fallujah and its suburbs, located about 69 kilometres (43 mi) west of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. The operation began on 22 May 2016, three months after the Iraqi forces had started the total siege of Fallujah. On 26 June, Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Fallujah, before recapturing the remaining pocket of ISIL resistance in Fallujah's western outskirts two days later.