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 (IS), 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.[111][112]
Quick Facts Date, Location ...
US-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021) |
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Part of the War against the Islamic State (Operation Inherent Resolve), the War in Iraq (2013–2017), Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present), and the War on terror |
An American F/A-18C Hornet aboard USS George H.W. Bush prior to the launch of operations over Iraq in 2014. |
Date | 15 June 2014 – 9 December 2021[1][2][3][4][5] (7 years, 5 months, 3 weeks and 3 days) |
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Location | |
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Result |
Coalition and Iraqi victory[6]
- Tens of thousands of ISIL fighters killed
- 14,616 U.S. and allied airstrikes on ISIL positions in Iraq[7]
- Heavy damage dealt to ISIL forces; military defeat in Iraq[8][9]
- Iraq declares military victory against ISIL on 9 December 2017[10]
- Low-intensity ISIL insurgency following December 2017
- Multinational humanitarian and arming of ground forces efforts
- Ongoing U.S.–led Coalition advising and training of Iraqi and Kurdish ground forces
- U.S.-led coalition forces begin discussing a withdrawal from Iraq following March 2020[11]
- U.S. maintains limited military presence, approximately 2,500 U.S. military personnel remain in Iraq as of December 2021, providing assistance, advice and training to Iraqi forces[12]
- Coalition ends combat mission in December 2021, but remain in an advisory and assistance capacity[13][14]
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Territorial changes |
Iraqi government forces regain control of all parts of Iraq previously controlled by ISIL[citation needed] |
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Belligerents |
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Coalition of foreign countries: CJTF–OIR
Local forces:
Iraq
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Islamic State Of Iraq and The Levant White Flags[33] |
Commanders and leaders |
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Barack Obama (2014–2017)
Donald Trump (2017–2021)
Joe Biden (2021)
Chuck Hagel (2014–2015)
Ashton Carter (2015–2017)
James Mattis (2017–2019)
Mark Esper (2019–2020)
Lloyd Austin (2021)
Joseph Votel
Stephen J. Townsend
Gary J. Volesky
Andrew J. Loiselle
David Cameron (2014–2016)
Theresa May (2016–2019)
Boris Johnson (2019–2021)
Michael Fallon
Andrew Pulford
Nick Clegg
Stephen Harper (2014–2015)
Justin Trudeau (2015–2016)
Rob Nicholson
Harjit Sajjan
Thomas J. Lawson
Jonathan Vance
Yvan Blondin
Michael Hood
Tony Abbott (2014–2015)
Malcolm Turnbull (2015–2018)
Scott Morrison (2018–2021)
Marise Payne
David Johnston
Trevor Jones Tim Innes
François Hollande
(2014–2017)[34]
Emmanuel Macron (2017–2021)[35]
Jean-Yves Le Drian
Pierre de Villiers
Helle Thorning-Schmidt
Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Peter Bartram
Angela Merkel
Ursula von der Leyen
Volker Wieker
Mark Rutte
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert
Frans Timmermans
Sander Schnitger Dennis Luyt
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Binali Yıldırım
Ahmet Davutoğlu
Vecdi Gönül
Necdet Özel
Hulusi Akar
King Abdullah II
Abdullah Ensour
Hani Al-Mulki
King Mohammed VI
Abdelilah Benkirane
Bouchaib Arroub
Barham Salih (2018–2021) Fuad Masum (2014–2018) Nouri al-Maliki (2014) Haider al-Abadi (2014–2018) Adil Abdul-Mahdi (2014–2020) Mustafa al-Kadhimi (2020–2021) Masoud Barzani (2014–2017) Jaafar Sheikh Mustafa Mustafa Said Qadir |
Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi Abu Hamza al-Qurashi Abu Fatima al-Jaheishi Abu Jandal al-Masri Abu Yusaf Abu Ahmad al-Alwani Abu Muhammad al-Jazrawi Sami Jasim Muhammad al-Jaburi (POW)[36] Faysal Ahmad Ali al-Zahrani Zulfi Hoxha Abu Obeida Baghdad [fr] Bajro Ikanović Ahlam al-Nasr Abu Yasser al-Issawi † (Former deputy leader of ISIS) Omar Jawad al-Mashhadani † (Chief ISIS suicide attack organiser in Baghdad) Muthanna Shataran al-Marawi † (ISIS military commander in charge of the Al-Rutba region) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Self-proclaimed Caliph) †[37][38]
Abu Alaa Afri † (Deputy Leader of ISIL)[39]
Abu Mohammad al-Adnani † (Spokesperson)
Abu Ayman al-Iraqi † (Head of Military Shura)[40][41]
Abu Suleiman al-Naser † (Replacement Military Chief)[41]
Abu Muslim al-Turkmani †
(Deputy, Iraq)[42]
Abu Waheeb †[43]
(Top Anbar Commander)
Abu Hajar al-Souri † (Top Aide)[44] Akram Qirbash † (Top ISIL judge)[citation needed]
Ali Mohammed al-Shayer † (Senior ISIL Leader)[45]
Radwan Taleb al-Hamdouni † (Former top ISIL leader in Mosul)[46]
Hassan Saeed Al-Jabouri † (ISIL governor of Mosul)[47]
"Prince of Nineveh" † (top ISIL commander in Mosul)[26]
Abu-Jihad Abdullah Dlemi † (ISIL Emir of Fallujah)[48]
Abu Maria † (top ISIL leader in Tikrit)[49] Sleiman Daoud al-Afari (POW) (ISIL chemical weapons chief) |
Strength |
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- 10 military advisers.[81]
- 300 trainers for the Iraqi Army[82]
- 6 Patriot missile batteries and 130 supporting troops in Turkey to defend its NATO ally against cross-border attacks.[83]
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- 5,000–10,000[86] (UN Security Council 2019 report)
- 28,600–31,600[87] (2016 US Defense Department estimate)
Around 100,000 fighters (according to Kurdistan Region Chief of Staff.)[88]
At least a few hundred tanks[89]
3 Drones[90][91][92] |
Casualties and losses |
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United States:
France:
- 1 soldier killed (possibly in Syria)[97]
United Kingdom:
- 1 servicemen killed[98]
- 2 civilians executed[99]
Canada
- 1 soldier killed, 3 wounded (friendly fire)[100]
Saudi Arabia:
- 3 border guards killed[101]
Turkey
- 4 Turkish soldiers wounded
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70,000+ killed (end of 2017)[102][103] 32,000+ targets destroyed or damaged (including Syria; 2/3 of targets were hit in Iraq)[7] (per Coalition sources)
- 164 tanks
- 388 HMMWVs
- 2,638 pieces of oil infrastructure
- 1,000+ fuel tanker trucks[104]
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Estimated 6,000+ civilians killed by Coalition airstrikes in Iraq[105][106][107] At least 28,000 civilians killed by ISIL in Iraq, with potentially up to 20 thousand more. (per Iraqi Body Count)(UN)[citation needed]
Over 550,000 civilians displaced[108][109][110] |
Close
In early August 2014, ISIL began its Northern Iraq offensive.[113] On 5 August, the United States started supplying the Kurdish Peshmerga forces with weapons.[114] 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.[115][116] By December 2017, ISIL had no remaining territory in Iraq, following the 2017 Western Iraq campaign.[9]
In addition to direct military intervention, the American-led coalition provided extensive support to the Iraqi Security Forces via training, intelligence, and personnel. The total cost of coalition support to the ISF, excluding direct military operations, was officially announced at ~$3.5 billion by March 2019.[117] 189,000 Iraqi soldiers and police officers received training from coalition forces.[118]
Despite U.S. objections, the Iraqi parliament demanded U.S. troops to withdraw in January 2020 following the deaths of Iraqi Deputy chief of the Popular Mobilization Units and popular Iranian Quds leader Qasem Soleimeni in a U.S. airstrike.[119][120] It was also announced that both the U.K and Germany were cutting the size of troops in Iraq as well,[121] In addition to withdrawing some of its troops, the U.K. pledged to completely withdraw from Iraq if asked to do so by the Iraqi government and Germany "temporarily thinned out" its bases in Baghdad and Camp Taji.[122][123] Canada later joined in with the coalition withdrawal as well by transferring some of its troops stationed in Iraq to Kuwait.[122] French and Australian forces stationed in the country have also objected to a withdrawal as well.[124][125] The United Nations estimated in August 2020 that over 10,000 ISIL fighters remained in Iraq and Syria.[126]
The coalition officially concluded its combat mission in Iraq in December 2021, but U.S. troops remain in Iraq to advise, train, and assist Iraqi security forces against the ongoing ISIL insurgency, including providing air support and military aid.[13][14]