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An aerial picture shows a general view of the newly-excavated site at Lagash

5,000-year-old tavern uncovered in southern Iraq

Archaeologists in southern Iraq have uncovered the remains of a tavern dating back nearly 5,000 years which they hope will illuminate the lives of ordinary people in the world's first cities.

World • 15 Feb 23

Supporters of Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr clash with security forces at Baghdad's Green Zone

30 Sadr supporters killed in Baghdad clashes

Thirty supporters of Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr have been shot dead in nearly 24 hours of fighting between rival Iraqi forces that has since died down, according to the latest toll from medics.

World • 30 Aug 22

Iraq's army declared a curfew from 3.30pm and urged the protesters to leave the Green Zone

Protesters killed in clashes in Baghdad's Green Zone

Fifteen protesters have been killed and Iraq has declared a nationwide curfew after supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr stormed the government palace in Baghdad's Green Zone today following the powerful Shi'ite leader's declaration that he was quitting politics.

World • 29 Aug 22

A man deploys a national flag as supporters of the Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr gather inside the country's parliament in the capital Baghdad's high-security Green Zone

Cleric supporters vow to stay inside Iraqi parliament

Thousands of supporters of a Shi'ite populist cleric have stormed Baghdad's fortified government zone and broke into parliament for the second time in a week, leaving at least 125 people injured and escalating a political stand-off.

World • 30 Jul 22

James Fitton (L) and Volker Waldmann arrive at a courthouse in Baghdad

British man jailed for 15 years over Iraq antiquities

An Iraqi court has sentenced a British man to 15 years in prison for trying to smuggle antiquities out of the country, but acquitted his German co-accused.

World • 06 Jun 22

Volunteers clean up at the Imam Ali shrine during a sandstorm in Iraq's holy city of Najaf

Thousands hospitalised in latest Iraq sandstorm

Another sandstorm that descended today on climate-stressed Iraq sent at least 4,000 people to hospital with breathing problems and led to the closure of airports, schools and public offices across the country.

World • 16 May 22

Iraq sandstorm sends more than 1,000 to hospital

More than 1,000 people were taken to hospital with respiratory ailments due to a sandstorm in Iraq, the seventh to hit the country in the past month, state media said.

World • 05 May 22

Iraqi security forces at an entrance to the Green Zone following drone attack on the residence of Iraq's prime minister in Baghdad

Iraqi PM escapes unhurt from drone attack on home

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi escaped unhurt from an "assassination attempt" in which an explosives-packed drone hit his Baghdad residence early today, a new escalation in the country's post-election turmoil.

World • 07 Nov 21

The US Army will remain in Iraq to help train its soldiers

US combat forces to leave Iraq by end of year

US President Joe Biden declared relations with Iraq would enter a new phase with American troops exiting combat operations in the country by year-end as he held talks with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi.

World • 27 Jul 21

An explosion involving oxygen tanks is believed to have caused the fire

Death toll in Iraq Covid ward fire rises to 64

Grief and anger gripped the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah after a fire swept through a temporary Covid isolation unit, killing 64 people and injuring dozens more.

World • 13 Jul 21

The airstrikes are the second US retaliatory action against Iran-backed militias since President Biden took office

Militia fighters killed in US airstrikes in Iraq, Syria

The Pentagon has said the US has carried out retaliatory targeted air strikes against "facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups" on the Iraq-Syria border, in which at least five militia fighters are reported to have been killed.

World • 28 Jun 21

Fire spread quickly through the ICU at the hospital

82 reported killed in fire at Iraqi Covid hospital

At least 82 people died when a fire broke out in a coronavirus intensive care unit at a hospital in the Iraqi capital.

Coronavirus • 25 Apr 21

Pope Francis bids farewell at Baghdad's airport

Pope Francis hails meeting with Muslim cleric

Pope Francis has ended his historic tour of Iraq, departing by plane from Baghdad after visiting conflict-torn cities, meeting Muslim and Christian leaders and preaching peace and coexistence over war.

World • 08 Mar 21

Pope Francis celebrated mass at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Erbil, Iraq

Pope Francis visits city of Mosul in northern Iraq

Pope Francis heard Muslim and Christian residents in the ruined Iraqi city of Mosul tell of their lives under brutal Islamic State rule on Sunday, blessing their vow to rise up from ashes and promising them "fraternity is more durable than fratricide".

World • 07 Mar 21

Pope Francis attends a meeting with authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps in the hall of the Presidential palace in Baghdad

Pope holds historic meeting with Iraq's top Shia cleric

Pope Francis held a historic meeting with Iraq's top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani today, in a powerful appeal for coexistence in a land torn by sectarianism and violence.

World • 06 Mar 21

Pope Francis speaks during an official ceremony at the presidential Palace in Baghdad

Pope urges end to violence on historic Iraq trip

Pope Francis, beginning the first trip by a pontiff to Iraq, has made an impassioned call for an end to the militant violence and religious strife that has plagued the country for decades, saying peacemakers should finally be given a chance.

World • 05 Mar 21

Young girls take a selfie in front of a poster promoting the upcoming trip of Pope Francis in Erbil

Pope Francis 'determined' on eve of Iraq visit

Pope Francis has asked for prayers ahead of his three-day historic visit to Iraq.

World • 04 Mar 21

Pope Francis is due to visit Iraq from 5 to 8 March

One dead in rocket attack on Iraq base with US troops

At least ten rockets slammed into a military base in western Iraq hosting US-led coalition troops leaving one civilian contractor dead, just two days before Pope Francis's historic visit to Iraq.

World • 03 Mar 21

Officials inspect the explosion site at al-Tayaran Square

At least 32 dead in Baghdad market blasts

More than 30 people at a crowded market in central Baghdad were killed in two suicide bomb attacks, Iraqi state media said, the city's deadliest such incident in three years.

World • 21 Jan 21

Pope Francis met the President of Iraq earlier this year at an audience in the Vatican

Pope to visit Iraq in first foreign trip since pandemic

Pope Francis will break a 15-month hiatus from international travel to visit Iraq in March.

World • 07 Dec 20

The move will leave 2,500 US troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan

US to cut troop levels in Iraq, Afghanistan

The US will slash troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq to their lowest levels in nearly 20 years of war after President Donald Trump pledged to end conflicts abroad, the Pentagon announced.

World • 18 Nov 20

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has issued a warning to Iraq

US warns Iraq it is ready to retaliate

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned Iraq that the US will retaliate "as necessary" against any new assaults on Americans after a series of deadly rocket attacks on a military base in Iraq.

World • 16 Mar 20

The attack happened at the Taji base north of Baghdad

US, UK troops among three dead in Iraq rocket attack

One US soldier and a British soldier, as well as an American contractor, have been killed after rockets hit an Iraqi military base north of the capital Baghdad, a US military official said.

World • 11 Mar 20

Iran fired missiles at the Ain al-Asad earlier this month

34 US troops injured in recent Iranian strike: Pentagon

Nearly three dozen US troops suffered traumatic brain injuries or concussion in this month's Iranian air strike on a military base in Iraq, the Pentagon said.

World • 24 Jan 20

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin

US to impose additional sanctions on Iran

The United States is imposing additional sanctions on Iran as a result of its attack on US troops in Iraq this week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said.

World • 10 Jan 20