Islamic State Haider al-Abadi[nb 1] Nouri al-Maliki[nb 2] Iraqi security forces600,000 (300,000 Army and 300,000 Police)[15] Popular Mobilization Forces: 60,000–90,000[16] Awakening Council militias: 30,000[19] Contractors: 7,000[20][21] Peshmerga: 200,000[22][23] Islamic State: Iraqi security forces and militias:19,000+ killed and 29,000+ wounded[30] Peshmerga:[31]1,837 killed10,546 wounded62 missing or captured Kurdistan Workers' Party:180 killed (2014–Jan.

However, despite the security crisis, Iraq's parliament did not allow Maliki to declare a state of emergency; many legislators boycotted the session because they opposed expanding the prime minister's powers.

[87][88] On 12 June 2014 ISIL killed 1,700 unarmed Iraqi Air Force cadets who were caught trying to flee to safety and released many images of mass executions via its Twitter feed and various websites.

[93] Four days later, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the new Islamic State, said that Muslims should unite to capture Rome in order to "own the world.

Sami al-Massoudi, deputy head of the Shia endowment agency which oversees holy sites, confirmed the destruction and added that ISIL had taken artifacts from the shrine to an unknown location.

[106][107] Prompted by the siege and killings of the Yazidis, on 7 August, President Obama authorized targeted airstrikes in Iraq against ISIL, along with airdrops of aid.

[113][114][115] Also, five days later, Iraqi Special Operations Forces with Kurdish Peshmerga and US air support, overran ISIL militants and reclaimed the Mosul Dam.

[127] In mid-October ISIL forces captured the city of Hīt after the 300-strong Iraqi Army garrison abandoned and set fire to its local base and supplies.

[132] In mid-November, the Iraqi army retook control of most of the strategic city Baiji from the Islamic State[133][134] and broke the siege of the nearby oil refinery.

After ISIL forces retreated, Kurdish fighters were initially faced with the clearing out mines around the area,[140] but quickly opened a land corridor to those mountains, enabling Yazidis to be evacuated.

[144] Shia groups claimed that they had killed Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri but this was later debunked [145] This success was off-set in late May, by ISIL's capture of the provincial capital of Ramadi in Anbar Governorate.

[146] On 17 July, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb in a crowded marketplace in the city of Khan Bani Saad during Eid al-Fitr celebrations, killing 120–130 people and injuring 130 more.

[147][148] On 13 August, a suicide bomber detonated a truck bomb in a crowded marketplace in Sadr City, Baghdad, killing at least 75 people and injuring 212 more.

[159][160][161] In April, the Iraqi Army, with the help of the Popular Mobilization Forces, launched the Western Nineveh offensive to capture territory west of Mosul.

[167] In September 2017, a United Nations Security Council Resolution[168] was adopted to "Reaffirm its respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence and unity of Iraq".

[168] Following the adoption of the resolution, a UN investigative team was established to document human rights violations and serious crimes committed by ISIS in Iraq.

In response to the referendum, the Iraqi Army launched a short offensive on 15 October against Kurdistan Region to recapture the disputed city of Kirkuk with the help of the Talabani family and some PUK members.

[170] Following the defeat of the Peshmerga and the capture of Kirkuk and Sinjar by the Iraqi armed forces,[170][171] Masoud Barzani announced his intentions to step down as President of Kurdistan Region, effective 1 November, after being in power for 12 years.

His gamble of pushing through with the unofficial referendum ended with the disputed territories being recaptured by Iraq and with the Kurdish statebuilding project being left abandoned.

[174] After the Iraqi army had captured the last ISIL-held areas in the al-Jazira desert bordering Syria, on 9 December the prime minister announced the end of the war.

[175][55] A victory parade was held "in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone" on the following day, and Prime Minister al-Abadi declared that 10 December would become a new annual holiday for Iraq.

[180] The Times meanwhile reported on 16 January that the Iraqi Army had launched an operation to oust ISIL from the Bosifian islands, a stronghold being used as a militant hideout.

[183] Despite these efforts, ISIL continued to hold out in the western desert[185][186][187] and wage an insurgency campaign against government forces in northern Iraq by mid-2018, most notably in Diyala and Kirkuk Governorates.

Sometimes, ISIL fighters would even openly flaunt their presence, placing their flag at well visible points and driving around with motorcycles, cars, and technicals.

[188] In course of one notable attack, ISIL fighters raided a house in a village to the south of Shirqat on 11 March 2018, killing a tribal sheikh who led a Sunni militia against the group as well as three others.

[198] According to Newsweek, Amnesty International claimed that "Iraqi government forces and paramilitary militias have tortured, arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappeared and executed thousands of civilians who have fled the rule of the Islamic State militant group".

[199] The report, titled Punished for Daesh's crimes', alleges that thousands of Sunni men and boys have been forcibly disappeared by Iraqi government forces and militias.