The Iraq War Timeline
Information gathered by the
American Policy Roundtable.
As taken from the BBC
A chronology of key events:
1920 25 April - Iraq is
placed under British mandate.
1921 23 August - Faysal, son
of Hussein Bin Ali, the Sharif of
Mecca, is crowned Iraq's first king.
1932 3 October - Iraq becomes
an independent state.
1958 14 July - The monarchy
is overthrown in a military coup led
by Brig Abd-al-Karim Qasim and Col
Abd-al-Salam Muhammad Arif. Iraq is
declared a republic and Qasim
becomes prime minister.
1963 8 February - Qasim is
ousted in a coup led by the Arab
Socialist Baath Party (ASBP). Arif
becomes president.
1963 18 November - The
Baathist government is overthrown by
Arif and a group of officers.
1966 17 April - After Arif is
killed in a helicopter crash on 13
April, his elder brother, Maj-Gen
Abd-al-Rahman Muhammad Arif,
succeeds him as president.
1968 17 July - A Baathist
led-coup ousts Arif and Gen Ahmad
Hasan al-Bakr becomes president.
1970 11 March - The
Revolution Command Council (RCC) and
Mullah Mustafa Barzani, leader of
the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP),
sign a peace agreement.
1972 - A 15-year Treaty of
Friendship and Cooperation is signed
between Iraq and the Soviet Union.
Petroleum firm nationalised
1972 - Iraq nationalises the
Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC).
1974 - In implementation of
the 1970 agreement, Iraq grants
limited autonomy to the Kurds but
the KDP rejects it.
1975 March - At a meeting of
the Organisation of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (Opec) in
Algiers, Iraq and Iran sign a treaty
ending their border disputes.
1979 16 July - President Al-Bakr
resigns and is succeeded by
Vice-President Saddam Hussein.
1980 1 April - The
pro-Iranian Dawah Party claims
responsibility for an attack on
Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz,
at Mustansiriyah University,
Baghdad.
Iran-Iraq war
1980 4 September - Iran
shells Iraqi border towns (Iraq
considers this as the start of the
Iran/Iraq war).
1980 17 September - Iraq
abrogates the 1975 treaty with Iran.
1980 22 September - Iraq
attacks Iranian air bases.
1980 23 September - Iran
bombs Iraqi military and economic
targets.
1981 7 June - Israel attacks
an Iraqi nuclear research centre at
Tuwaythah near Baghdad.
Chemical attack on Kurds
1988 16 March - Iraq is said
to have used chemical weapons
against the Kurdish town of Halabjah.
1988 20 August - A ceasefire
comes into effect to be monitored by
the UN Iran-Iraq Military Observer
Group (Uniimog).
1990 15 March - Farzad Bazoft,
an Iranian-born journalist with
London's Observer newspaper, accused
of spying on a military
installation, is hanged in Baghdad.
Iraq invades Kuwait
1990 2 August - Iraq invades
Kuwait and is condemned by United
Nations Security Council (UNSC)
Resolution 660 which calls for full
withdrawal.
1990 6 August - UNSC
Resolution 661 imposes economic
sanctions on Iraq.
1990 8 August - Iraq
announces the merger of Iraq and
Kuwait.
1990 29 November - UNSC
Resolution 678 authorizes the states
cooperating with Kuwait to use "all
necessary means" to uphold UNSC
Resolution 660.
1991 16 -17 January - The
Gulf War starts when the coalition
forces begin aerial bombing of Iraq
("Operation Desert Storm").
1991 13 February - US planes
destroy an air raid shelter at
Amiriyah in Baghdad, killing more
than 300 people.
1991 24 February - The start
of a ground operation which results
in the liberation of Kuwait on 27
February.
Ceasefire
1991 3 March - Iraq accepts
the terms of a ceasefire.
1991 Mid-March/early April -
Iraqi forces suppress rebellions in
the south and the north of the
country.
1991 8 April - A plan to
establish a UN safe-haven in
northern Iraq to protect the Kurds
is approved at a European Union
meeting. On 10 April the USA orders
Iraq to end all military activity in
this area.
1992 26 August - A no-fly
zone, which Iraqi planes are not
allowed to enter, is set up in
southern Iraq, south of latitude 32
degrees north.
1993 27 June - US forces
launch a cruise missile attack on
Iraqi intelligence headquarters in
Baghdad in retaliation for the
attempted assassination of US
President George Bush in Kuwait in
April.
1994 29 May - Saddam Hussein
becomes prime minister.
1994 10 November - Iraqi
National Assembly recognises
Kuwait's borders and its
independence.
Oil-for-food
1995 14 April - UNSC
Resolution 986 allows the partial
resumption of Iraq's oil exports to
buy food and medicine ( the
"oil-for-food programme"). It is not
accepted by Iraq until May 1996 and
is not implemented until December
1996.
1995 August - Saddam
Hussein's son-in-law, Gen Hussein
Kamil Hasan al-Majid, his brother
and their families leave Iraq and
are granted asylum in Jordan.
1995 15 October - Saddam
Hussein wins a referendum allowing
him to remain president for another
seven years.
1996 20 February - Hussein
Kamil Hasan al-Majid and his
brother, promised a pardon by Saddam
Hussein, return to Baghdad and are
killed on 23 February.
1996 31 August - After call
for aid from KDP, Iraqi forces
launch offensive into northern
no-fly zone and capture Irbil.
1996 3 September - US extends
northern limit of southern no-fly
zone to latitude 33 degrees north,
just south of Baghdad.
1996 12 December - Saddam
Hussein's elder son, Uday, is
seriously wounded in an
assassination attempt in Baghdad.
1998 31 October - Iraq ends
cooperation with UN Special
Commission to Oversee the
Destruction of Iraq's Weapons of
Mass Destruction (Unscom).
Operation Desert Fox
1998 16-19 December - After
UN staff are evacuated from Baghdad,
the US and UK launch a bombing
campaign, "Operation Desert Fox", to
destroy Iraq's nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons programmes.
1999 19 February - Grand
Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq
al-Sadr, spiritual leader of the
Shia community, is assassinated in
Najaf.
1999 17 December - UNSC
Resolution 1284 creates the UN
Monitoring, Verification and
Inspection Commission (Unmovic) to
replace Unscom. Iraq rejects the
resolution.
2001 February - Britain, US
carry out bombing raids to try to
disable Iraq's air defence network.
The bombings have little
international support.
2001 May - Saddam's son Qusay
elected to the leadership of the
ruling Baath Party, fuelling
speculation that he's being groomed
to succeed his father.
2002 April - Baghdad suspends
oil exports to protest against
Israeli incursions into Palestinian
territories. Despite calls by Saddam
Hussein, no other Arab countries
follow suit. Exports resume after 30
days.
Weapons inspectors return
2002 September - US President
George W Bush tells sceptical world
leaders at a UN General Assembly
session to confront the "grave and
gathering danger" of Iraq - or stand
aside as the US acts. In the same
month British Prime Minister Tony
Blair publishes a dossier on Iraq's
military capability.
2002 November - UN weapons
inspectors return to Iraq backed by
a UN resolution which threatens
serious consequences if Iraq is in
"material breach" of its terms.
2003 March - Chief weapons
inspector Hans Blix reports that
Iraq has accelerated its cooperation
but says inspectors need more time
to verify Iraq's compliance.
Saddam ousted
2003 17 March - UK's
ambassador to the UN says the
diplomatic process on Iraq has
ended; arms inspectors evacuate; US
President George W Bush gives Saddam
Hussein and his sons 48 hours to
leave Iraq or face war.
2003 20 March - American
missiles hit targets in Baghdad,
marking the start of a US-led
campaign to topple Saddam Hussein.
In the following days US and British
ground troops enter Iraq from the
south.
2003 9 April - US forces
advance into central Baghdad. Saddam
Hussein's grip on the city is
broken. In the following days
Kurdish fighters and US forces take
control of the northern cities of
Kirkuk and Mosul. There is looting
in Baghdad and elsewhere.
2003 April - US lists 55
most-wanted members of former regime
in the form of a deck of cards.
Former deputy prime minister Tariq
Aziz is taken into custody.
2003 May - UN Security
Council backs US-led administration
in Iraq and lifts economic
sanctions. US administrator
abolishes Baath Party and
institutions of former regime.
2003 July - US-appointed
Governing Council meets for first
time. Commander of US forces says
his troops face low-intensity
guerrilla-style war. Saddam's sons
Uday and Qusay killed in gun battle
in Mosul.
Insurgency intensifies
2003 August - Deadly bomb
attacks on Jordanian embassy and UN
HQ in Baghdad. Saddam's cousin Ali
Hassan al-Majid, or Chemical Ali,
captured. Car bomb in Najaf kills
125 including Shia leader Ayatollah
Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim.
2003 14 December - Saddam
Hussein captured in Tikrit.
2004 February - More than 100
killed in Irbil in suicide attacks
on offices of main Kurdish factions.
2004 March - Suicide bombers
attack Shia festival-goers in
Karbala and Baghdad, killing 140
people.
2004 April-May - Shia
militias loyal to radical cleric
Moqtada Sadr take on coalition
forces.
Hundreds are reported killed in
fighting during the month-long US
military siege of the Sunni Muslim
city of Falluja.
Photographic evidence emerges of
abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US
troops.
Sovereignty and elections
2004 June - US hands
sovereignty to interim government
headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
Saddam Hussein transferred to Iraqi
legal custody.
2004 August - Fighting in
Najaf between US forces and Shia
militia of radical cleric Moqtada
Sadr.
2004 November - Major US-led
offensive against insurgents in
Falluja.
2005 30 January - An
estimated eight million people vote
in elections for a Transitional
National Assembly. The Shia United
Iraqi Alliance wins a majority of
assembly seats. Kurdish parties come
second.
2005 28 February - At least
114 people are killed by a massive
car bomb in Hilla, south of Baghdad.
It is the worst single such incident
since the US-led invasion.
2005 April - Amid escalating
violence, parliament selects Kurdish
leader Jalal Talabani as president.
Ibrahim Jaafari, a Shia, is named as
prime minister.
2005 May onwards - Surge in
car bombings, bomb explosions and
shootings: Iraqi ministries put the
civilian death toll for May at 672,
up from 364 in April.
2005 June - Massoud Barzani
is sworn in as regional president of
Iraqi Kurdistan.
2005 July - Study compiled by
the non-governmental Iraq Body Count
organisation estimates that nearly
25,000 Iraqi civilians have been
killed since the 2003 US-led
invasion.
2005 August - Draft
constitution is endorsed by Shia and
Kurdish negotiators, but not by
Sunni representatives.
More than 1,000 people are killed
during a stampede at a Shia ceremony
in Baghdad.
2005 September - 182 people
are killed in attacks in Baghdad,
including a car bomb attack on a
group of workers in a mainly-Shia
district.
Saddam on trial
2005 October - Saddam Hussein
goes on trial on charges of crimes
against humanity.
Voters approve a new constitution,
which aims to create an Islamic
federal democracy.
2005 15 December - Iraqis
vote for the first, full-term
government and parliament since the
US-led invasion.
2006 20 January - Shia-led
United Iraqi Alliance emerges as the
winner of December's parliamentary
elections, but fails to gain an
absolute majority.
Sectarian violence
2006 February onwards - A
bomb attack on an important Shia
shrine in Samarra unleashes a wave
of sectarian violence in which
hundreds of people are killed.
2006 22 April - Newly
re-elected President Talabani asks
Shia compromise candidate Jawad
al-Maliki to form a new government.
The move ends four months of
political deadlock.
2006 May and June - An
average of more than 100 civilians
per day are killed in violence in
Iraq, the UN says.
2006 7 June - Al-Qaeda leader
in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is
killed in an air strike.
2006 September - A
much-anticipated ceremony to
transfer operational command from
US-led forces to Iraq's new army is
postponed.
2006 November - Saddam
Hussein is found guilty of crimes
against humanity and sentenced to
death.
Iraq and Syria restore diplomatic
relations after nearly a quarter
century.
More than 200 die in car bombings in
the mostly Shia area of Sadr City in
Baghdad. An indefinite curfew is
imposed after what is considered the
worst attack on the capital since
the US-led invasion of 2003.
2006 December - Iraq Study
Group report making recommendations
to President Bush on future policy
in Iraq describes the situation as
grave and deteriorating. It warns of
the prospect of a slide towards
chaos, triggering the collapse of
the government and a humanitarian
catastrophe.
Saddam executed
2006 30 December - Saddam
Hussein is executed by hanging.
2007 January - US President
Bush announces a new Iraq strategy;
thousands more US troops will be
dispatched to shore up security in
Baghdad.
Barzan Ibrahim - Saddam Hussein's
half-brother - and Awad Hamed
al-Bandar, former head of the
Revolutionary Court, are executed by
hanging.
UN says more than 34,000 civilians
were killed in violence during 2006;
the figure surpasses official Iraqi
estimates threefold.
2007 February - A bomb in
Baghdad's Sadriya market kills more
than 130 people. It is the worst
single bombing since 2003.
2007 March - Insurgents
detonate three trucks with toxic
chlorine gas in Falluja and Ramadi,
injuring hundreds.
Former Vice-President Taha Yassin
Ramadan is executed on the fourth
anniversary of the US-led invasion.
2007 12 April - A bomb blast
rocks parliament, killing an MP.
18 April - Bombings in Baghdad kill
nearly 200 people in the worst day
of violence since a US-led security
drive began in the capital in
February.
2007 May - The leader of
al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri,
is reported killed.
2007 July - President Bush
says there's been only limited
military and political progress in
Iraq following his decision to
reinforce US troops levels there.
2007 August - The main Sunni
Arab political bloc in Iraq, the
Iraqi Accordance Front, withdraws
from the cabinet, plunging the
government into crisis.
Truck and car bombs hit two villages
of Yazidi Kurds, killing at least
250 people - the deadliest attack
since 2003.
Kurdish and Shia leaders form an
alliance to support Prime Minister
Maliki's government but fail to
bring in Sunni leaders.
2007 September - Controversy
over private security contractors
after Blackwater security guards
allegedly fire at civilians, killing
17.
2007 October - Turkish
parliament gives go-ahead for
military operations in Iraq in
pursuit of Kurdish rebels. Turkey
comes under international pressure
to avoid an invasion.
The number of violent civilian and
military deaths continues to drop,
as does the frequency of rocket
attacks.
Karbala, the mainly Shia province,
becomes the 18th province to be
transferred to local control. |
