Iraqi Army in the context of "Al Asad Airbase"

The Iraqi Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of Iraq. They consist of the Ground forces, the Army Aviation Command, the Iraqi Air Force, the Air Defence Command, and the Iraqi Navy. The armed forces are administered by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Effective control of the MOD armed forces rests with the prime minister of Iraq.

Along with the primary service branches, there exists two non-MOD agencies that are part of the armed forces and report directly to the Prime Minister; namely, the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service and the Popular Mobilization Committee.

The Second Battle of Tikrit was a battle in which Iraqi Security Forces recaptured the city of Tikrit (the provincial capital of the Saladin Governorate) from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Iraqi forces consisted of the Iraqi Army and the Popular Mobilization Forces (the bulk of the ground forces, consisting of Shia militiamen and also some Sunni tribesmen), receiving assistance from Iran's Quds Force officers on the ground, and air support from the American, British, and French air forces.

The city of Tikrit, located in the central part of the Saladin Governorate in north of Baghdad and Samarra and lying adjacent to the Tigris River, was lost to ISIL during the huge strides made by the group during its offensive in June 2014. After its capture, ISIL retaliated with the massacre at Camp Speicher, a nearby training facility for the Iraqi Air Force. After months of preparation and intelligence-gathering, Iraqi forces engaged in offensive operations to fully encircle and subsequently retake the city, starting on 2 March 2015. The offensive was the largest anti-ISIL operation to date, involving some 20,000–30,000 Iraqi forces (outnumbering ISIL fighters more than two-to-one), with an estimated 13,000 ISIL fighters present. It was reported that 90% of the residents of the city left out of fear both of ISIL and retaliatory attacks by Shia militias once the city is captured. As such, most of the residents fled to nearby cities, such as Baghdad and Samarra, or even further to Iraqi Kurdistan or Lebanon.

The Battle of Hawija was an offensive launched in September 2017 by the Iraqi Army, in order to recapture the town of Hawija and the surrounding areas from the Islamic State (IS).

The offensive was concurrent with the 2017 Central Syria campaign by the Syrian Army to capture IS territory towards Deir ez-Zor, as well as with the Raqqa campaign (2016–17) conducted by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against IS's de facto capital city and stronghold in Syria.

The fall of Mosul in Iraq occurred between 4 and 10 June 2014, when Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) insurgents, initially led by Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi, captured Mosul from the Iraqi Army, led by Lieutenant General Mahdi al-Gharrawi.

On 4 June, the insurgents began their efforts to capture Mosul. The Iraqi army officially had 30,000 soldiers and another 30,000 federal police stationed in the city, facing a 3,000-member attacking force. The Iraqi forces' actual numbers were much lower due to ghost soldiers, severely reducing combat ability. After six days of combat and massive desertions, Iraqi soldiers received orders to retreat. The city of Mosul, including Mosul International Airport and the helicopters located there, all fell under ISIL's control. An estimated 500,000 civilians fled from the city.

The 7th Division is a division of the Iraqi Army.

First formed in the 1960s or 1970s, it was reported in 1977–78 to have its headquarters at Sulaimaniyah with five brigades (all active). It served in the 1991 Gulf War at the Battle of Kuwait International Airport. In 2002, it was reported to be with the 5th Corps (Iraq) and comprise the 38th, 39th, and 116th Brigades. It was disbanded in 2003.