List of wars involving Iraq
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This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. For more of Iraq predecessor states, see List of conflicts in Iraq.
| Conflict | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Results | Iraqi losses | Head of State | Prime Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military | Civilians | ||||||
| Mesopotamian Campaign (1914–1918; World War I) |
Allied victory | ~89,500 | ~35,500 |  Mehmed VI (Ottoman rule) |
Ahmet Tevfik Pasha (Ottoman rule) | ||
| Mahmud Barzanji Revolts (1919–1924) |  Mandatory Iraq RAF Iraq Command Assyrian levies |
Kurdish state
|
British-Assyrian victory[2][3]
|
? | ? | Before 1920:  Sir Percy Cox
After 1920: King Faisal I |
Before 1920: Sir Percy Cox
After 1920: Abd Al-Rahman Al-Gillani |
| Iraqi War of Independence (1920) |
Iraqi rebels
|
United Kingdom
|
British victory | 6,000–10,000 | 2,050–4,000 | None | |
| Ikhwan revolt (1927–1930) |  Hejaz and Nejd
|
 Ikhwan
|
Allied victory | 2,000 killed in total | Faisal I of Iraq | Faisal bin Sultan | |
| Yazidi Revolt (1935) | Kingdom of Iraq |
Yazidi tribes | Revolts suppressed
|
? | ? | Ghazi of Iraq | Ali Jawdat al-Ayyubi |
| Iraqi Shia Revolts (1935–1936) |
Kingdom of Iraq |
Iraqi Shia tribesmen Ikha Party |
Revolts suppressed | ~500 | |||
| Iraqi Coup D'état (1941) |
Iraq |
Golden Square |
Golden Square victory
|
? | Faisal II of Iraq | Taha al-Hashimi | |
| Anglo-Iraqi War (1941 WWII) |
Iraq (Golden Square) Military support:  Germany Italy Vichy France[8] |
United Kingdom
|
Allied victory
|
~500 | ? | Sherif Sharaf | Rashid Ali al-Gaylani |
| Barzani Revolt (1943–1945) |
Kingdom of Iraq |
Barzani tribesmen Allied Kurdish tribes |
Iraqi victory
|
? | Faisal II of Iraq | Nuri al-Said | |
| Al-Wathbah Uprising (1948) | Iraqi Police |
Student Cooperation Committee (communists) Progressive Democrats Populists |
Victory
|
300–400 | Mohammad Hassan al-Sadr | ||
| First Arab–Israeli War (1948–1949) |
Defeat
|
? | None | Muzahim al-Pachachi | |||
| 14 July Revolution (1958) |
 Arab Federation
Supported by: |
 Free Officers
|
Free Officers Victory
|
~100 | Nuri al-Said | ||
| Mosul Uprising (1959) |
Iraqi Government
|
 Arab nationalists
 United Arab Republic[19][20][21] United States[22]
|
Attempted coup fails
|
2,426 | Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i | Abd al-Karim Qasim | |
| First Iraqi–Kurdish War (1961–1970) |
Before 1968: Iraq Syria (1963)Supported by: United States (from 1963)[23][24]After 1968: Ba'athist Iraq |
 KDPYazidis[25] Assyrians Supported by:  Iran[26] Israel United States (alleged)Wolfe-Hunnicutt 2021, pp. 102 |
Military stalemate[27]
|
~10,000 | ? | ||
| Ramadan Revolution (1963) |
Iraqi Government
|
 Iraqi Ba'ath Party
United States[31][32] |
Iraqi Ba'athist victory
|
100 | |||
| Ar-Rashid Revolt (1963) | Iraqi Government
|
 Iraqi Communist Party Iraqi Army |
Coup attempt defeated
|
1+ | Abdul Salam Arif | Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr | |
| November coup d'état (1963) | Ba'athists |
Nasserists |
Nasserist victory
|
250 | |||
| Six-Day War (1967) |
Egypt Syria Jordan Iraq[33]Minor involvement:  Lebanon[34] |
Israel |
Defeat
|
10 | None | Abdul Rahman Arif | Abdul Rahman Arif |
| 17 July Revolution | Iraqi Government
|
Iraqi Ba'ath Party Iraqi Armed Forces
Supported by: |
Ba’ath victory
|
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr | Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr | ||
| Yom Kippur War (1973) |
Israel |
Defeat[44]
|
278 | None | Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr | Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr | |
| Second Iraqi–Kurdish War (1974–1975) |
Iraq Supported by:  Soviet Union[46] |
KDP Yazidis[47] IranSupported by: |
Iraqi victory[50]
|
7,000 | ? | ||
| Arvand Conflict (1974–1975) |
Iraq |
Iran KDP |
Iranian victory[51]
|
Saddam Hussein | Saddam Hussein | ||
| Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) |
Iraq
|
 Iran
|
Inconclusive[i] | 105,000 375,000 |
~100,000 | ||
| Invasion of Kuwait (1990) | Iraqi Republic |
 State of Kuwait |
Iraqi victory
|
295+ | None | ||
| Gulf War (1990–1991) |
Iraq |
|
Coalition victory
|
20,000–35,000 | 3,664 | ||
| 1991 Iraqi uprisings (1991) |
 Government
Support: |
Shia and leftist elements of opposition:
|
Iraqi government military victory (Southern Front)
|
~5,000 | 80,000–230,000 | ||
| Kurdish rebels: Diplomatic Support: |
Government Military Victory (Northern Front)
| ||||||
| Iraqi Kurdish Civil War (1995–1996) |
KDP Supported by: Iraq (from 1995) Turkey (from 1997) Iran (before 1995) |
 PUK PKK[79] SCIRIKCP Iraqi National Congress Supported by: Iran (from 1995) Syria United States (1996) |
Washington Agreement
|
? | |||
| Bombing of Iraq (1998) |
Iraq |
 United States
|
Coalition military success[80] Politically inconclusive[80]
|
1,400[81](KIA or WIA) | ? | ||
| Second Sadr Uprising (1999) |
Iraq
|
 Rebels:
|
Iraqi government victory
|
40+ | 200+[84] | ||
| Iraq War (2003–2011) |
Invasion (2003) |
Invasion (2003) Coalition of the willing  Kurdistan Region
 Iraqi National Congress |
Defeat (Phase 1)
|
7,600–10,800 | 151,000–1,033,000+ | ||
After invasion (2003–11) Iraq United States United Kingdom MNF–I (2003–09) Kurdistan Region Awakening Council |
After invasion (2003–11) Al-Qaeda in Iraq Islamic Army in Iraq Islamic State of Iraq Mahdi Army Naqshbandi Army Hamas of Iraq Jaysh al-Mujahideen 1920 Revolution Brigades Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna |
Government victory (Phase 2)
|
17,690 | Jalal Talabani | Nouri al-Maliki | ||
| War in Iraq (2013–17) | Allied groups:
Others:
|
 Islamic State
|
Iraqi and allied victory[100] | 25,000+ | 67,000+ | Fuad Masum | Haider al-Abadi |
| 2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict (2017) |
Iraq Supported by: Iran[61] |
Kurdistan Regional Government PKK[101] PDKI[102] PAK[103]
 White Flags (alleged)[104] |
Iraqi victory
|
None | None | ||
| Iraqi Insurgency (2017–present) |
Iran
Supported by: |
Islamic State White Flags (2017–2018) |
Ongoing as a hit-and-run campaign | 2,254+ | None | ||
| Iraqi intervention in the Syrian civil war (2017–2019) |
 ISIL |
Victory
|
None | None | Barham Salih | Adil Abdul-Mahdi | |
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Other armed conflicts involving Iraq
- Wars during Mandatory Iraq
- Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery conflicts
- Simele massacre 1933
- Joint Operation Arvand 1969, Iranian show of force that Iraq did not resist
- Kurdish rebellion of 1983 (part of Iran–Iraq War)
- Iraqi no-fly zones conflict, 1991–2003
- Kurdistan Islamist conflict, 2001–2004 (fought on Iraqi territory, but with no Iraqi involvement)
Notes
- Including greater autonomy for Iraq,[4] the installation of Faysal ibn Husayn as King of Iraq, and cancellation of the British Mandate for Mesopotamia.[5]
- Greek airmen undergoing training at Habbaniya flew sorties against the Iraqis.
- After 22 September 1948
- Iraq claimed victory following a successful 1988 counter-offensive aimed at expelling Iranian forces from Iraq which compelled Iran to submit to a ceasefire the same year, and also due to the country becoming the dominant power in the Middle East as a result of the conflict, while Iran also claimed victory for expelling Iraqi forces from Iran following 1982 offensives, despite failing in its later-goal to overthrow the Iraqi government and also despite suffering higher military and economic losses than Iraq.[72][73]
- After the war concluded, Iraq continued to maintain control over the entire Shatt al-Arab and other Iranian territories it had occupied along the border, covering an area of 9,600 km2. It was not until 16 August 1990 that Iraq agreed to return these occupied territories back to Iran and to divide sovereignty over the Shatt al-Arab. This restored the border to the terms established by the 1975 Algiers Agreement.[74][75]
