Iraqi security forces shot protesters in an escalation of chronic frustration with a lack of jobs and services, including salty water that shut down the Basra refinery.
Islamic State militants thrive in large security gaps across northern Iraq, moving freely among villages, shopping for supplies, and using threats to enforce compliance.
The government cannot control large swaths of territory, as Islamic State insurgents solidify footholds and launch attacks targeting security forces and energy infrastructure.
The 2018 draft budget allocates a tiny fraction of the funding needed to rebuild from the IS war; for the rest, Iraq is seeking international donations and investment.
With rival armed forces massed near strategically important oil assets, federal and KRG negotiators are at an impasse.
A new armed group has appeared in northern Iraq, causing locals to fear that IS is regrouping and re-branding for guerrilla warfare.
Thousands of federal and Kurdish soldiers are pointing their weapons at each other, leaving volatile territory inadequately guarded and vulnerable to an emboldened IS insurgency.
Gas field facilities have been ravaged and booby-trapped by IS militants, and tensions are mounting between rival security forces.
Four oil smuggling operations have been uncovered, but the suspected perpetrators are so powerful that security forces cannot safely make public accusations.
The IS group is on the verge of losing the rest of its urban territory – and Iraq soon gets back its largest gas field.
