List of wars involving Iraq
This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states.
| Conflict | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Results | Iraqi losses | Head of State | Prime Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military | Civilians | ||||||
| Mesopotamian Campaign (1914–1918 World War IWWI) |
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
|
? | ? | 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 |
United Kingdom
Iraq (Abd Al-Ilah loyalists)
Air and naval support: |
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 United States
|
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) After 1968: Ba'athist Iraq |
KDP Yazidis Assyrians Supported by: Iran Israel United States (alleged) |
Military stalemate
|
~10,000 | ? | ||
| Ramadan Revolution (1963) |
Iraqi Government | Iraqi Ba'ath Party
United States |
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 Minor involvement: Lebanon |
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
|
278 | None | Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr | Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr | |
| Second Iraqi–Kurdish War (1974–1975) |
Iraq Supported by: Soviet Union |
KDP Yazidis Iran Supported by: |
Iraqi victory
|
7,000 | ? | ||
| Arvand Conflict (1974–1975) |
Iraq | Iran KDP |
Iranian victory
|
Saddam Hussein | Saddam Hussein | ||
| Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) |
Iraq
|
Iran
|
Inconclusive | 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: |
Badr Brigades Dawa |
Government victory (Southern Front)
|
~5,000 | 80,000–230,000 | ||
| KDP PUK |
Government Military Victory (Northern Front)
| ||||||
| Iraqi Kurdish Civil War (1995–1996) |
KDP Iraq KDPI |
PUK United States |
Stalemate
|
? | |||
| Bombing of Iraq (1998) |
Iraq | United States United Kingdom |
Defeat
|
1,400(KIA or WIA) | ? | ||
| Second Sadr Uprising (1999) |
Iraq | Badr Brigades Dawa |
Government victory
|
40+ | 200+ | ||
| Iraq War (2003–2011) |
Iraq | United States United Kingdom Australia Poland Peshmerga |
Defeat (Phase 1)
|
7,600–10,800 | 151,000–1,033,000+ | ||
| → Iraq Peshmerga MNF–I |
SCJL Naqshbandi Army Free Iraqi Army al-Qaeda ISI Ansar al-Islam IAI Mahdi Army Badr Brigades Kata'ib Hezbollah |
Government victory (Phase 2)
|
17,690 | Jalal Talabani | Nouri al-Maliki | ||
| War in Iraq (2013–2017) (2013–2017) |
Iraq
Allied groups:
CJTF–OIR |
Islamic State
Naqshbandi Army (2013 –15) |
Government victory
|
25,000+ | 67,000+ | Fuad Masum | Haider al-Abadi |
| 2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict (2017) |
Iraq | Peshmerga | Victory
|
None | None | ||
| Iraqi Insurgency (2017–present) |
Iraq | Naqshbandi Army ISIL |
Ongoing | 2,254+ | None | ||
| Iraqi intervention in the Syrian Civil War (2017–2019) |
ISIL | Victory
|
None | None | Barham Salih | Adil Abdul-Mahdi | |