Iraqis sit at a popular cafe overlooking the old city of Mosul on September 2, 2024, seven years after the Islamist State (IS) group was ousted from the northern Iraqi city. (Zaid al-Obeidi/AFP)
Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fill the parliament building during a sit-in protest, in Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 4, 2022. (Photo: AP/Anmar Khalil)
Army soldiers march under the Victory Arch during the Army Day celebrations in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. The Iraqi Army was activated on Jan. 6, 1921, while under British rule. (Photo: AP/Hadi Mizban)